Newport Bay Garbage Interceptor
Newport Beach, California
Merit Award
Presented by Burns and McDonnell
owner City of Newport Beach
Leading design company Burns and McDonnell
General Contractor Jilk Heavy Construction Inc.
Civil Engineer Burns and McDonnell
Structural Engineer QEA anchor
Biological surveillance and authorization Influence of the tides
System automation, integration and network security Business automation
Modeled after Mr. Baltimore’s Trash Wheel, this is the first floating water wheel to collect trash on the West Coast. It is adapted to run on the flow of San Diego Creek, which drains a 120-square-mile watershed into Upper Newport Bay.
The scope of the $5.5 million project consists of a floating trash wheel system and ground improvements that provide truck access to containers located on the rail sled. As a moored vessel, the trash wheel is held in place by large diameter guide piles designed to withstand storm flow forces and changes in water surface elevations.
Two bars direct trash and debris to the trash wheel, which uses rotating trash rakes to carry floating trash and debris onto a conveyor belt that moves the material up and into containers that sit inside a sled mounted on a short rail system.
The trash rakes and conveyor belt are powered by a 14-foot-diameter, pump-driven, solar-powered water wheel. Due to site limitations, collection of containers by barge was not feasible. Instead, teams designed and installed a fixed rail system.
A solar-powered ground winch moves the containers up and down the rail. Sustainability was central to every aspect of the Newport Bay Trash Interceptor. Fully powered by solar and hydraulic energy, the system captures waste with no operational emissions.
The floating platform rises and falls with streams and tidal cycles, minimizing environmental disruption while ensuring resilience during storm events and future weather conditions.
