Case Study: Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium

Location: Memphis, TN

Scope: Underground Water Storage, Fire Pump, Wet Pipe, Dry Pipe, and Standpipe Systems

Fire Protection That Started With the Water Supply

Most fire protection scopes start at a city connection and work inward. This one started further back. At Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, the venue Memphis still calls the Liberty Bowl, Ironsmith Fire delivered the building’s dedicated water supply and every system that runs off it. Storage, pump, backflow, standpipes, wet systems, and dry systems. Five conversations on most projects. One contract here.

The Challenge

• A building that needed its own water supply. Fire protection here was designed around dedicated on-site storage and a dedicated pump, which means the supply infrastructure had to be engineered, installed, and proven before anything downstream of it could be commissioned.
• Sequencing tied to the sitework. The underground tanks could not go in until the site was brought to grade. Everything that depended on stored water waited on that milestone.
• New construction and existing facilities in the same scope. Seven new floors needed protection while existing IDF rooms and other existing spaces needed coverage of their own: different conditions, different systems, same schedule.
• Two hazard classifications under one roof. Occupied floors and existing service areas do not carry the same risk. The design had to answer light hazard and ordinary hazard Group II without over- or under-protecting either.

Our Solution

• Built the supply first. Two 15,000-gallon underground water tanks, 30,000 gallons of dedicated fire protection water, with a float valve so levels are monitored, not assumed.
• Sized the pump to the building. A 1,000-GPM, 175-PSI vertical turbine fire pump set in a 15-foot basin, tied to a transfer switch so the pump keeps running when normal power does not.
• Matched the system to the space. Wet systems through the new floors. Dry systems in the existing areas, run in galvanized steel, because a dry system that corrodes is a dry system that fails when it is needed.
• Built for the fire service, not just for code. Six standpipe systems feeding the sprinkler systems and putting hose valves within reach across the building.
• Proved the supply before handoff. The double check valve backflow assembly was inspected and tested at installation, not deferred to a punch list.

Scope of Work

Water supply and pump room

• Two 15,000-gallon underground water tanks with float valve level monitoring
• Double check valve backflow assembly at the fire pump room, including initial inspection and testing
• 1,000-GPM at 175-PSI vertical turbine fire pump with a 15-foot fire pump basin
• Transfer switch integrated per the electrical design

Wet sprinkler systems: new construction

• Seven wet pipe sprinkler systems protecting new floors, designed and installed by Ironsmith Fire
• Schedule 10 black steel mains with Schedule 40 black steel branch lines
• Bronze uprights and chrome concealed pendents, matched to finished and unfinished areas

Standpipes

• Six wet standpipe systems supplying the sprinkler systems and serving hose valves throughout the building

Dry systems: existing facilities

• Two dry sprinkler risers protecting existing IDF rooms and other existing spaces
• Schedule 40 galvanized steel mains and branch lines with bronze uprights
• Designed for both light hazard and ordinary hazard Group II occupancies

By the Numbers

• 30,000 gallons of dedicated on-site fire protection water storage
• 1,000 GPM at 175 PSI of vertical turbine pumping capacity
• 7 wet pipe sprinkler systems across new floors
• 6 wet standpipe systems serving hose valves building-wide
• 2 dry sprinkler risers protecting existing facilities
• 1 accountable team from underground storage to the last sprinkler head

Why Ironsmith Fire?

Underground storage, a fire pump, standpipes, wet systems, and dry systems usually mean five scopes, five schedules, and five people to chase when something slips. Here they were one. With over 70 years of leadership experience and a field-tested team, we do not just install fire protection. We deliver full-service fire protection and peace of mind, even under pressure.

See our work at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, or learn more about fire protection for stadiums and event venues.