In Manfield, Ohio, All Crane‘s first task was to move the existing cover on a secondary digester at the plant that measures 80 feet in diameter.
“This cover was built in 1959, so it’s pretty old,” City Engineer Bob Bianchi said. “It’s a massive cover that needs to be removed. That’s what the crane is there for,” he said.
The old cover will be replaced with a dual-membrane cover that includes an inner layer designed to rise or fall, depending on the volume of methane produced or used during the treatment process.
Before it is put into place, sludge will need to be removed and workers will need to modify the walls of the digester to accept the new cover, which is designed to capture more methane, Bianchi said.
The city engineer likened the looks of the new cover to resembling the top of a hamburger bun.
Coker has used a different analogy: “Think of it as like a Jiffy Pop popcorn bag – and when it gets full, that’s what it will look like,” he said.
“It will look much different,” Bianchi said.
As the cover is replaced, “we’ve got three other digesters being used. We are just not capturing methane at this point. The plant manager is working diligently with the contractor to ensure that the process of treating sewage is still being maintained during construction,” Bianchi said.
Kirk Brothers was chosen as general contractor for the current project.
The All Terrain Mobile crane, provided by All Crane, will be taken apart once again, to be moved to Toledo for a job there, after it has finished its work in Mansfield.
Linda Martz , Reporter
