At the 2010 Design-Build Conference & Expo held in Las Vegas last week, the Design-Build Institute of America awarded the 2010 Water/Wastewater Over $25 Million Design-Build Merit Award to PCL Construction as the contracting firm, Stantec Engineering as the engineering firm and Rosendin Electric as the specialty contractor for the Nogales International Wastewater Treatment Plant in Rio Rico, Ariz. Rosendin Electric assisted with the overall design and construction of the electrical portion of the $61 million project, which converted the facility from an aerated lagoon to an activated sludge plant with a 15 million-gallon-per-day (mgd) capacity.
Located in Santa Cruz County, the Nogales International WWTP serves more than 200,000 residents on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. In December 2005, the city of Nogales, Ariz., received a $60 million grant to upgrade the facility to meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards to discharge water into the Santa Cruz River. The previous lagoon facility was not capable of eliminating toxic ammonia or meeting state permit limits for suspended solids.
Some of the challenges facing the design-build team included upgrading the existing facility without disrupting service, and dealing with differing Mexican and U.S. environmental regulations. The project was constructed using a "fast-track" approach and was completed in June 2009, four months ahead of schedule.
Working with Rosendin Electric and PCL Construction supervisors, the team was able to plan workweeks in advance so workers could be trained to work safely to accomplish each task. "On this project, we lived our safety motto: 'plan our work and work our plan,'" said Mike Kelley, environmental health and safety manager for Rosendin.
The upgraded facility also received the National Project Achievement Award from the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) in November 2009, and a 2010 Project of the Year award from the American Public Works Association (APWA) in August.
Source: PR Newswire
