Armourdale and CID Pump Station Modifications

Affinis began working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Kansas City District on the CID and Armourdale Pump Station Modifications project in 2019. They had plans to raise the levees, and the existing pump station structures needed to be analyzed to determine if they could handle the additional load.

To kick things off, our team studied the existing conditions at both sites by starting with an as-built survey. They compared their observations and notes with the as-built drawings to better understand the existing conditions and original design criteria. Then, they performed a structural analysis of the pump stations to see what needed to be strengthened.

At the same time, they evaluated pump capacity. Some stations were 100 years old and couldn’t handle the increase in flows that had occurred over the years. Based on the results, it was clear that nine pump stations needed to be strengthened structurally, and six needed to be upgraded to handle a higher stormwater pumping capacity. One pump station required demolition, as it was now obsolete.

Following the survey, our team began design. During this process, they faced a few challenges. One hurdle was working with the existing structures. Often, our engineers had to retrofit solutions. Making modifications and thinking creatively allowed them to troubleshoot issues as they arose.

The project was completed in 2024. With the new improvements, USACE is seeing an increase in total additional pumping capacity across the projects. In fact, they’ve had a 16 percent increase in pumping capacity for the municipal stormwater system for Armourdale and CID Unit leveed areas. They also have a greater ability to evacuate stormwater at the pump stations during a coincident flood event.

Learn more about the complex project’s design challenges here.