WIPP utility shaft reaches station depth milestone

When completed, the 26-foot-diameter utility shaft will provide air to WIPP’s new ventilation system, called the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System (SSCVS). The increased airflow provided by the system will allow for simultaneous mining, rock bolting, waste emplacement, and maintenance operations.

The work: According to the DOE, reaching the station depth was a culmination of nearly three years of construction and mining work as crews overcame unique challenges. Work on the utility shaft started in late 2019 but was paused in late 2020 for one year during the pandemic. The state of New Mexico authorized a restart in November 2021.

The shaft and the SSCVS are currently being built by Salado Isolation Mining Contractors (SIMCO), a Bechtel company that took over the WIPP management and operations contract in February.

To excavate the shaft, crews from Harrison Western–Shaft Sinkers Joint Partnership, a SIMCO subcontractor, set charges to blast half of the shaft circle at a time, excavating and removing the debris to the surface before repeating on the other side of the circle. Crews worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week excavating the shaft.

A concrete liner of varying thicknesses was installed in the shaft to a depth of 873 feet, where the repository’s salt layer begins. From there to the final planned depth of the shaft bottom at 2,275 feet, crews will install rock bolts and metal mesh to control loose rock.

“This is a tremendous accomplishment for our WIPP workforce,” said Ken Harrawood, SIMCO president and program manager. “The new utility shaft is a key component of the SSCVS that, when on line, will enhance WIPP’s capability to deliver the nation and New Mexico’s cleanup mission.”

SSCVS delays: The DOE has run into major cost increases and delays in construction of the new ventilation system, which the department attributed to contractor inexperience and difficulties attracting staff to work in the area.

In March 2022, the Government Accountability Office reported that, without a plan for addressing construction issues, the DOE cannot ensure that further cost increases and schedule delays will not continue.

When work on the SSCVS began in May 2018, it was projected to be completed by November 2022 at a total project cost of $288 million. According to the GAO report, as of October 2021 the DOE was expecting to complete the system in January 2026 at a revised estimated cost of approximately $486 million. At the time, the GAO said that the utility shaft was also at risk of cost overruns and schedule delays.