Design-Build for Water/Wastewater

Annual conference and exhibition highlights industry sector technology and trends.

The 2019 Design-Build for Water/Wastewater Conference, April 10-12 in Cincinnati, brings professionals together for three days of education, networking events, and the latest industry trends about design-build project delivery in the water/wastewater sector. The annual Design-Build Institute of America event is co-located with and follows the Design-Build for Transportation & Aviation Conference, April 8-10.

In addition to an exhibition with more than 100 product and service providers for the industry, the conference features five education tracks, providing opportunities for attendees to earn continuing education units (CEUs). Practitioners can earn as many as 12 CEUs and owners are eligible to earn as many as 14.5 CEUs by attending the full conference.

Following are the scheduled presentations in each track.

General session/Keynote track

When Design-Build Goes Wrong: Designer Liability Risk Management — In a combined gathering with attendees to the Design-Build for Transportation & Aviation Conference, this session will take a close look at the business and teaming aspects of design-build, including not just the good, but the “bad” and even the “ugly” that can occur when best practices fall by the wayside; and the win-win that occurs when good/fair contracting and procurement practices are coupled with good teaming.

Leading Through Organizational Change — Jon Sanchez, Team Performance Institute, will talk to attendees in this opening keynote about overcoming adversity and leading through organizational change.

Workforce Development: How to Get and Retain the Best People — This session will explore practical ways to attract and retain the best people and provide practical ideas to implement immediately. Also discussed will be more long-term solutions to create a pipeline of workers, both craft and management, to sustain a workforce during the next few decades.

How Digital is Transforming the Future of Water — Key questions addressed in this closing general session presentation include:

• How is digital water defined?
• Which technologies will make the most impact?
• How are digital solutions addressing infrastructure challenges?
• Which business models are proving most effective?
• What is the impact on utility strategies, engineering companies, and vendors?
• What do we see as the key digital trends during the next five to 10 years and where is the opportunity?

Progressive Design-Build track

Progressive Design-Build (PDB) Best Practices — No information available at press time.

PDB Delivers Innovation Resulting in Consistent Energy from Cogeneration to Power a Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) — Jacobs is the design-builder for the new $95 million cogeneration facility at the San José-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility. The facility will provide reliable onsite heat and 14 MW of power, replacing aging cogeneration equipment. PDB delivery has resulted in a treatment process that meets difficult budget and schedule goals with the lowest life cycle cost.

Applying a PDB Approach for the Nation’s Largest WWTP — When the largest single-site facility in the country, Detroit’s Great Lakes Water Authority, discovered that its outfall wasn’t providing adequate disinfection, the utility implemented a PDB approach to meet strict budget and schedule demands.

Expedited Delivery from Preparation through Operation: Louisville MSD’s First Use of PDB — Louisville MSD began design of the Southwestern Parkway CSO Basin using conventional design-bid-build. However, local politics altered the basin’s location, resulting in significant delays for the Federal Consent Decree project. MSD elected to switch to PDB to ensure its objectives were achieved.

Boynton Beach’s Collaborative East Plant Ion Exchange and Upgrades Design-Build Project — Faced with anticipated redevelopment and a limited water supply source, the city implemented a state-of-the-art MIEX pretreatment system and increased the water treatment plant’s (WTP’s) capacity to 24 million gallons per day (mgd). To meet the requirements of the local water management district and to collaboratively identify value in the project, the city utilized PDB.

Making the Design-Build Decision: Theory & Practice track

Understanding Design-Build Variations — No information available at press time.

A Decade of Design-Build Experiences at HRSD — The Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) has effectively used the Design-Build delivery method since 2008 to meet the needs of its growing Capital Improvement Program. HRSD has successfully completed six projects and begun procurement for two additional efforts.

PDB as a Tool to Maximize Collaborative Delivery — This presentation will provide detailed analysis of the process and outcomes of the PDB delivery of a greenfield WTP. The discussion will cover delivery method selection, design-builder procurement, and characteristics of the contract and delivery method that led to successful execution of the project.

The Value of Utilizing PDB to Expand a Major WWTP — Fulton County’s Big Creek Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) is reaching capacity and the equipment is near the end of its useful life. The county needs to expand and upgrade the WRF from 24 mgd to 38 mgd and achieve more stringent effluent limits. The county wanted to expand cost-effectively, maintain operational compliance during construction, provide input into the design, and consider multiple options and innovative solutions. PDB was the ideal procurement method to meet these objectives.

Partnering with Houston to Deliver the Nation’s Largest Progressive Design-Build WTP Project — The city of Houston, with four regional water authorities, is expanding its Northeast Water Purification Plant (NEWPP), increasing its ability to support steady residential and commercial growth while reducing dependency on groundwater. Building on lessons learned from major design-build projects, the Houston Waterworks Team is delivering this $1.4 billion, 320-mgd project, the largest PDB project of its kind in North America.

Best Practices and Lessons Learned track

DBIA Best Practices Enhance Communication to Effectively Balance Risks During Procurement — When Denver Water solicited its Aeration Basin Quality Improvements design-build project, several RFP requirements placed significant risks on prospective design-builders. Risks included schedule performance, treatment performance, and “full design-gate” review requirements. Through early collaboration in the form of a proprietary meeting, these challenges were deliberated to arrive at mutually acceptable solutions.

Does Collaborative Delivery Cost More and How to Avoid the Off-Ramp — This presentation will address conditions surrounding successful projects. Conversely, it will address why owners may “off ramp” a delivery team and choose to discontinue its use of PDB or construction manager at risk (CMAR) because they believed it cost more.

Martinez IV WWTP and Collection System Design-Build Project Execution and Lessons Learned — The presentation highlights the benefits of using integrated delivery and when challenges presented, how the team addresses them. The project not only included delivering a 250,000-gallons-per-day WWTP and 15,600 linear feet of collection lines with a lift station, but also the sewer shed planning, collaboration with another utility, and having the plant Envision rated.

Case Study for Delivering a 70-mgd Water Supply Pump Station for Indianapolis — The owner, contractor and engineer present a case study describing the lessons learned from implementing critical best practices such as qualification-based selection, collaborative team development, open book pricing, project risk mitigation, disciplined design phase gates, incremental cost development, diversity subcontracting inclusion, BIM and 4D scheduling, and project celebrations.

Market Update for the Demand by Owners to Use Design Build — This session reports on the data from the Water Design-Build Council’s ongoing research that documents growth in the use of design-build delivery methods in the public sector and why they are occurring. It will also add further specifics on the use of each of the recognized delivery methods in the water sector.

Trends and Innovation in Design-Build track

New Arizona Surface Water Plant Delivered Through Innovative Partnerships and Collaboration — The City of Goodyear, Ariz., identified the need for a new surface water treatment facility and negotiated a landmark water transportation agreement with the Salt River Project (SRP) to wheel their Central Arizona Project water allocation through SRP’s canals.

Geotechnical Risk — Information not available at press time.

Joint Venture with a Purpose: Combining Human Capital to Benefit the Owner — Design-build delivery requires a team that possesses a varying and expansive set of skills to ensure success. One means of incorporating many differing viewpoints is to engage a culturally similar partner in a joint venture, with each partner bringing skill-sets that complement the other.

P3s in the Small Water Market and USDA Funding Opportunities — Panelists will share insights into implementing the P3 process in the water sector. Through the lens of experience, each panelist will discuss how they can work with USDA to implement P3s combined with USDA Funding.

Choosing and Selecting an Owner’s Consultants — Information not available at press time.

More information about the conference schedule, exhibition, venue, and registration for the 2019 Design-Build for Water/Wastewater Conference is available at www.dbwater.com.

Information provided by the Design-Build Institute of America (https://dbia.org).