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    Waste & Recycling

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    Fabric Building Structures

    Fabric Buildings for Wastewater Treatment Plant Construction—It’s All About The Right Environment

    Public health and safety are priority concerns when it comes to wastewater treatment and recycling. The products and processes that can harm people and the environment can also damage facilities.  

    tension fabric wastewater building
    fabric biomethane building

    Legacy tension fabric buildings are ideal for waste management facilities, designed for maximum durability, efficiency, and air quality control. Our buildings can be fully enclosed, have a pavilion style that is open all around, or have any variation of partial walls. They can be built from the ground up or designed as a retrofit cover to upgrade and protect existing exposed equipment.

    The white ExxoTec™ fabric creates a natural energy-saving environment in enough diffused natural light for safe storage and daytime operations. Customized fabric buildings can create negative air pressure for hazardous waste decontamination and volatile containment, which also controls orders and emissions. 

    Tension Fabric Buildings

    Wastewater Treatment

    Wastewater treatment facilities face numerous challenges that can affect equipment, processes, or workers:

    • Weather, including rain, snow loads, high winds, and high UV levels
    • Adequate ventilation
    • Corrosion due to moisture and chemicals produced by processes
    • Maintenance costs

    Covered structures alleviate multiple concerns:

    • Controlling algae growth in storage tanks by blocking UV light penetration  
    • Protecting treatment processes from contaminants such as birds, pests, and other wind-borne particles
    • Protecting equipment from the elements to ensure longer life, greater efficiency, and less maintenance

    Legacy fabric buildings can be attached to an existing brick-and-mortar building or stand-alone to house entire operations including admin offices in a single facility.

    • Solid steel framework engineered to meet specific loading requirements for maximum performance and durability in any environment
    • Advanced coating with EpoxxiShield™ offers superior corrosion protection, a robust alternative to hot dip galvanizing (HDG). It’s designed to withstand caustic chemicals and moisture
    • Clear span construction of 300 feet or more in length and width provides maximum, obstructed interior space
    • Proprietary ExxoTecTM fabric is flexible yet extremely durable, thermally non-conductive, and inherently corrosion- and fire-resistant
    • Seamless construction means there are no screw holes where moisture can enter 
    • Passive ventilation efficiently circulates air, reduces humidity, helps prevent odor and chemical emissions, reduces construction costs, and requires virtually no maintenance
    • For decontamination and VOC containment, the building can be designed to create negative indoor air pressure
    • Natural light saves energy
    • Can be relocatable if needed

    Legacy materials and construction processes are themselves sustainable, producing minimal waste

    Wastewater treatment facility with a tension fabric building

    Recycling

    Community and private enterprise recycling runs the gamut from public access drop-off centers to facilities designed to dry and store compost, decontaminate hazardous waste, convert biomethane waste to energy, and process specific products such as scrap metal or glass.

    Every Legacy tension fabric building is custom-designed to achieve your goals. All the features that make our buildings ideal for wastewater treatment apply here, too, along with recycling-specific needs such as:

    • Clearances to accommodate tipping trucks and loaders
    • Seamless, tightly sealed envelope to contain odors
    • Materials suitable for corrosive conditions 
    • Water management accessories 
    • Unobstructed floor space to configure storage and working processes for maximum efficiency
    Tension Fabric Recycling Building

    Biosolids Storage

    Many communities work to capture and recycle biosolids and treat wastewater. Since biosolids can be a byproduct of water treatment, the two types of activities are often combined on a single site, even within a single overarching structure.

    If you need to convert biosolids to compost or store sludge, Legacy fabric buildings can enhance the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of your operation. Many of our clients find that designing a single, comprehensive facility housed within one large building is not only more affordable to construct but also more economical to operate and maintain over time. In certain scenarios, open-air pavilion-style structures can further boost productivity with improved airflow and curation.

    Just like wastewater treatment and recycling operations, each project comes with its own unique requirements. Our buildings are fully customizable, offering flexible clear span sizes and shapes, and providing superior protection against corrosion and harsh environmental conditions.

    Biosolid processing and storage in a tension fabric building
    Legacy

    Our Process

    Design 01

    Whether you have a complete building spec or just an idea in mind, our team will lead you through the design process with expertise and efficiency.

    Engineer 02

    Our in-house engineering team leads the charge on creative solutions that benefit all project stakeholders—namely you.

    Manufacture 03

    Legacy is an end-to-end manufacturer, meaning your project will be built right on-site in our 87,000 sq ft facility in Central MN.

    Install 04

    Now to the good stuff. We typically use our own Legacy crews for the install. They have a reputation for a strong work ethic, strict safety practices, and deep knowledge of how our structures work. They also are trained in our proprietary cladding attachment process.

    Case Study

    Biomethane Production Office & Processing Building

    19,200 sq ft Biomethane Waste-to-Energy Production Building

    The Biomethane Production Facility has a tall peak to allow tipping trucks inside, and a tightly sealed building envelope to contain odors. Clearspan floor space leaves plenty of room to store food waste for use.

    View Case Study
    Biomethane Production Office & Processing Building

    Southeast County Landfill

    139,750 sq ft Biosolids Compost Cover

    Legacy created an open-air building that allowed them to increase the productivity of the facility. Our engineering made it possible to consolidate it in one large building rather than the three structures proposed in the early stages of the building process.

    View Case Study
    Southeast County Landfill

    Fern Hollow Water Treatment Plant

    7,549 sq ft Municipal Water Treatment Facility | Moon Township, PA

    A Water Treatment Plant cover was designed, manufactured, and installed by Legacy crews overtop the existing water treatment equipment. Reducing maintenance time and costs.

    View Case Study
    Fern Hollow Water Treatment Plant

    Basin Electric Power Cooperative Bottom Ash Dewatering Facility

    52,800 sq ft Coal-Fired Energy Plant Processing Remediation Building | Stanton, ND

    Constructed over the top of an existing waste water facility, the structure protects equipment that is dewatering ash from a power plant. Ventilation was key for this operation, and the system installed did six interior air replacements per hour.

    View Case Study
    Basin Electric Power Cooperative Bottom Ash Dewatering Facility

    Max Rhoads Wastewater Settling Tank Cover

    15, 232 sq ft Wastewater Settling Tank Cover

    After considering options for a building that met the corrosion-resistance criteria and could be erected over settling tanks already in place, RWRA chose Legacy Building Solutions as their basis of design for a wastewater cover.

    View Case Study
    Max Rhoads Wastewater Settling Tank Cover

    Chillicothe Correctional Institution WWT & Dewatering Structure

    6,550 sq ft Wastewater Treatment Dewatering Structure

    Attached to a traditional brick building, this building protects a waste water and biosolid processing facility. Our frames support a conveyor system and passive ventilation controls the building’s humidity.

    View Case Study
    Chillicothe Correctional Institution WWT & Dewatering Structure

    Highland WRF Covered Sludge Storage

    20,400 sq ft Tension Fabric Structure for Covered BioSolid Storage

    A custom tension fabric building gave the city of Highland extra capacity and the ability to handle biosolids more effectively.

    View Case Study
    Highland WRF Covered Sludge Storage

    Lee County Ash Monofill and Compost Facility

    19,440 sq ft Ash Monofill & Compost Facility

    Lee County, Florida uses three corrosion resistant fabric structures for municipal compost drying.

    View Case Study
    Lee County Ash Monofill and Compost Facility

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    Testimonials

    The tripper works just as planned – which basically doesn’t ever happen.

    The building is working out better than we thought it would. The tripper is supported from the frame and works just as planned – which basically doesn’t ever happen.

    Greg Margeson Scrap Metal Recycling

    The whole engineering phase with Legacy was excellent.

    They were very responsive to our ideas and turned things around very quickly. Even the installation was fast—the whole building was erected in about seven days. The fabric roof allows a lot of natural light into the building, which is a big advantage on the operations floor, since it reduces our need for artificial lighting inside. It provides significant sheltering from rain, wind and cold. Even though we didn't have it insulated, it's still noticeably more comfortable inside during the winter. The structure actually provides more of a shading and cooling effect. The Legacy building has performed at or above expectations in many ways. And on top of its functionality within our process, it offers environmentally friendly features in its own right. It's a great system for our application.

    Dean Foor JC Biomethane

    Working with Legacy was easy.

    This is definitely a more permanent building type. And working with Legacy was easy – there was good communication throughout the design and installation process.

    Joe Gianvito Fern Hollow
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    Partnerships Equal Structural Integrity

    Whatever your industry, project, and desired application, the Legacy team of engineers will make your vision a reality. Start your project with the team who will provide you more than the structural integrity of your building a partnership.