Civil Engineering
els were designed to withstand loads of up to
news
S u s ta i n a b i l i t y
New Jersey Reservoir
Features Floating Solar
Panels Designed to
Withstand Winter
W hen a New Jersey water pro-
vider wanted to install solar pan-
els to generate energy for one of its water
treatment plants, it discovered that the
facility lacked the space needed for tra-
ditional ground-mounted arrays. How-
ever, a nearby reservoir afforded plenty
of room, prompting the utility to install
the panels on a docking system designed
to float. Although floating solar arrays
have been installed before, this
system is believed to be the first
designed to withstand the rig-
ors of the freezing and thawing
cycles associated with northern
climates.
Completed in October, the
floating solar array is owned by
New Jersey American Water, a
In what may be the first such de-
ployment of solar panels in a
northern environment, an array
of solar panels floating on a res-
ervoir will generate power for
the Canoe Brook Water Treatment
Plant, in Millburn, New Jersey.
[ 1 6 ] C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g d ece m b e r 2 0 1 1
The three spiral sky-
lights in the roof of Martin
Luther Kirche symbol-
ize the Christian Trinity.
wholly owned subsidiary of the Amer-
ican Water Works Company, Inc., of
Voorhees, New Jersey. Although New
Jersey American Water has installed
ground-mounted solar panels at several
of its other facilities, space limitations
precluded this approach at its Canoe
Brook Water Treatment Plant, in Mill-
burn, New Jersey. Therefore, the utility
decided to install solar panels on a near-
by 735 million gal reservoir, one of three
reservoirs it uses to provide water to the
Canoe Brook plant.
By installing solar systems for gener-
ating electricity, New Jersey American
Water aims to reduce its energy costs
while decreasing its carbon footprint,
accumulate in the skylights, the glass pan-
4 kN/m, Hauer says. The team initial-
ly considered covering the ceiling of the
prayer room with steel panels to mim-
ic the exterior but determined that steel
would not have the right acoustical prop-
erties. Instead, they covered the ceiling
with stucco, which not only provides
good acoustics but also will protect the
roof in the event of fire for approximately
30 minutes, Hauer explains.
Once the roof was in place, the team
put the finishing touches on the building,
and Martin Luther Kirche opened in April.
The exacting construction schedulejust
eight monthsproved to be one of the
most challenging aspects of the project,
Hauer says. In December I had my doubts
that we would [finish in time for] the open-
ing ceremony, he says. But, in fact, its a
real nice project. Jenny Jones
says Suzanne Chiavari, P.E., M.ASCE, the
vice president of engineering for New
Jersey American Water. Water purifi-
cation is an energy-intensive process,
Chiavari says. Consequently, we have
been examining the use of alternative
energy sources at our surface water treat-
ment plants. New Jersey American
Water has constructed several ground-
mounted solar arrays at its other water
treatment plants and is currently install-
ing two more such systems. Upon com-
pletion of these projects, the utility will
generate about 3.5 million kWh per
year by means of solar power.
Measuring 117 by 123 ft, the floating
array includes 400 solar panels, each fixed
d u c c i o m a l a g a m b a , t o p ; N E W J E R S E Y A m e r i c a n W at e R , b o t t o m
Civil Engineering
news
at a 15-degree angle and having a 14.4
percent conversion efficiency and a rated
capacity of 280 W. The panels will have
a total generating capacity of 112 kW of
DC power, which will then be converted
to aC. The system is expected to gener-
ate approximately 135,000 kWh annu-
ally, or roughly 1.3 percent of the energy
consumed each year by the Canoe Brook
facility, says Bob Biehler, P.E., the senior
engineering project manager for New Jer-
sey American Water. Being a pilot proj-
ect, the system is intended to be relatively
small so that New Jersey American Water
can assess the effectiveness of the applica-
tion, Biehler says. We want to gain some
experience with a floating system to see
how well it withstands the freezing and
thawing cycles, he says.
The floating solar array was designed
and built by ENERActive Solutions, of
Asbury Park, New Jersey. Were ex-
tremely excited, because we think [the
floating system] is the first one of its kind
in this type of northern environment,
says David Klockner, a vice president and
the chief operating officer of ENERActive
Solutions. Were anxiously awaiting to
see how it will perform throughout the
winter, he says.
The docking system takes the form
of floats filled with polystyrene. In the
unlikely event that the floats are punc-
tured, they will remain buoyant and can
easily be replaced. For help in developing
a docking system that would work well
in cold temperatures, ENERActive Solu-
tions worked with Poralu Marine, Inc., of
Saint-Eustache, Quebec, a maker of dock-
ing systems.
To accommodate fluctuations of up
to 10 ft in the water level of the reservoir
as well as movement associated with ice,
a pretty unique mooring system was
used to hold the docking system in place
while providing the required flexibility,
Klockner says. A system of elastic bands
manufactured by Seaflex AB, of Ume,
Sweden, was used to connect the dock-
ing system to ballast blocks at the bot-
tom of the reservoir. The bands hold the
docking system in tension, preventing it
from twisting or turning but allowing
it to move up and down in response to
changes in the water level. In this way,
the solar array is able to maintain a con-
stant azimuth, which is extremely im-
portant for the solar irradiation for the
system, Klockner says.
Special connection details were used
on the underside of the docking system to
attach the elastic bands that extend down
to the 25 ballast blocks, each made of con-
crete and weighing 4 tons. Initially, the
system was designed with piles holding
the array in place. However, the decision
was made to use ballasts resting on the res-
ervoir bottom in order to avoid damaging
the reservoirs clay liner, Klockner says.
Ultimately, the reservoir is large
enough that New Jersey American Wa-
ter could install additional floating solar
arrays up to 10 times the size of the ini-
tial one, Chiavari says. However, before
deciding whether to install more float-
ing arrays, the utility plans to operate the
initial system for a year or two to evaluate
its performance, she says. One objective
is to confirm that the floating array will
require as little maintenance as is the case
with the utilitys ground-mounted ar-
rays. At the same time the utility will also
monitor water quality in the reservoir to
ensure that the floating array has no un-
toward environmental effects, although
none are anticipated. In fact, by shading
portions of the reservoir, the solar array is
expected to help reduce algae levels near
the pumps that convey water from the
reservoir to the treatment plant.
Klockner says he is excited to see
whether interest develops in floating solar
arrays, especially in view of the plethora
of unused bodies of water out there that
can host a system and provide significant
benefit from this type of solar power sys-
tem, he notes.
Tax credits and other inducements
are expected to help defray some of the
cost of the $1.35-million project. For
example, New Jersey American Water
has applied for a tax credit of up to 30
percent of the total project cost, Chia-
vari says, made possible by the federal
American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009. The State of New Jersey
also offers economic incentives for re-
newable energy projects. Such incen-
tives are of paramount importance to
solar projects, Chiavari says. Without
them, she notes, such projects are dif-
ficult to fund because the payback is
much longer.  Jay Landers

Known as T walls because they resemble an inverted letter T,

flood control
the floodwalls significantly increase the level of flood protection
Major Floodwall Project afforded by the St. Bernard system of earthen levees in Louisi-
Wraps Up in Louisianas anas St. Bernard Parish. For the 7.5 mi of floodwalls added to the
section of levee known as LPV 146 (LPV denoting Lake Pontchar-
St. Bernard Parish train and vicinity), the foundations are 3 ft tall and 11 ft wide in

I
cross section, and the walls extend 8 ft above the foundation.
n 2005, when Hurricane Katrina
struck Louisiana, the storm surge eas-
ily overtopped the levee system pro-
tecting the Lower Ninth Ward, in Or-
leans Parish, as well as the populated area
of St. Bernard Parish, which is located
to the east of New Orleans. The result-
U R S C o r p o r at i o n

ing flooding led to loss of life and sig-

nificant property damage. To reduce the
risk of another such event, the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers is undertaking a major

[ 1 8 ] C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g d ece m b e r 2 0 1 1
Copyright of Civil Engineering (08857024) is the property of American Society of Civil Engineers and its
content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's
express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.