Projects

Bristol was contracted by US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Charleston District (administered by USACE Huntington District) for the design, construction, and start-up of a new, $11.2 million natural gas facility, located at the VA Medical Center Campus in Chillicothe, OH. This facility was designed to replace an aging, inefficient boiler plant and supply the year-round steam needs of the campus through the use of high-efficiency natural gas boilers. At the 90% design stage, a $13.5 million addition was incorporated, adding a wood chip burning biomass boiler and steam-driven turbine generator to Bristol’s scope. 

Bristol played an integral role during the design of the facility, from the initial client meetings and concept through submission of the full construction documents. Once the client’s vision of the project was known, Bristol formed a highly qualified team consisting of a local energy designer and an Ohio-based mechanical/electrical subcontractor. With this team in place, Bristol successfully began a series of design charette meetings to bring the initial boiler plant concept to life. 

Site work included underground steam and condensate piping in utilidors, water, sewer, storm and gas facilities, access roads and parking, site fencing, and landscaping. Bristol designed and constructed over one-half mile of new, commercial-rated asphalt roadway, which had to be integrated into the VA campus site adjacent to the golf course.

The foundation consists of conventional footings and grade beams with a concrete slab-on-grade. The wood chip storage area is a 12-foot-deep concrete pit designed to safely receive and store approximately 700 cubic yards of wood chips delivered by semi-trucks on a 24-hour schedule. The facility required an extensive subterranean retaining wall system to be constructed around the entire perimeter of the Biomass addition, including adjacent to the existing facility. 

Building systems included mechanical, electrical, and plumbing, telecommunications, and dry pipe fire suppression systems. Electronic security systems included six color cameras on the exterior of the building that were tied to a 16-channel DVR that monitors and records on motion only. Access control keypads for the buildings were installed at each exterior door for secure accessibility to the buildings.

This $25.5 million facility provides all of the steam needs of the campus through the use of cutting-edge biomass technology, with natural gas back-up systems, and generates enough electricity to power the plant year-round. This project delivered the first operational biomass boiler facility to the VA nationwide.