Black & Veatch announced that the Nelson-Flanders Water Treatment Plant in Longmont, Colo., earned a 2006 Design-Build Excellence Award from the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) in the “water over $15 million” category.
The plant was completed by the Black & Veatch-Western Summit Constructors Inc. joint-venture design-build team for the city of Longmont.
The new plant provides high-quality drinking water to meet the increased demands of a growing population and economy. Treatment works include a raw-water reservoir, two-stage flash mix, three-stage flocculation, high-rate lamella plate settlers prior to dual-media filtration, and chemical disinfection facilities. The design incorporates gravity-driven conveyance to maximize efficiency. The plant was designed and built not only to meet present needs, but also to accommodate future development and regulatory requirements.
The award was presented at the DBIA Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony held recently in Nashville, Tenn.
“Winners of National Design-Build Awards Competition exemplify the principles of interdisciplinary teamwork, innovation and problem solving, which characterize design-build delivery,” said Walker Lee Evey, DBIA president. “Winning projects like the Nelson-Flanders Water Treatment Plant demonstrate advanced and innovative application of integrated project delivery and unique solutions for project challenges. We are honored to have the opportunity to recognize this extraordinary effort.”
The 30-million-gallon-per-day water treatment facility shares a rural site with a 19th-century dairy farm. The plant was designed to complement the adjacent structures. The plant was designed to resemble a historic barn, while dry-chemical storage facilities model silos. The project team worked closely with the community to preserve trees and wildlife corridors, devoting special attention to provision of roosts for migratory hawks and relocation of prairie dog colonies.
The integrated design-build approach and productive partnering between the city and the design-build team enabled a collaborative permitting process. Since this process began immediately and continued through phased design and construction, the team was able to keep the project on track while securing dozens of diverse permits from multiple entities. The treatment plant began operation three months ahead of schedule for a cost that was $2.8 million under the $43 million budget.
“The team operated as one, and everyone understood and acted in accordance with the common goals,” said Longmont Construction Manager Larry Wyeno. “As a direct result of our close collaboration, we were able to take advantage of emerging opportunities and modify project components to achieve cost savings and maximize value.”
Source: Black & Veatch
