AWWA ACE56407

The quality of Seattle's primary water supply was enhanced at minimal cost and in rapid fashion thanks to management emphasis on innovation and integration. Seventy percent of the water supplied by Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) to the Seattle area is unfiltered water flowing from its protected Cedar River watershed. The Cedar Treatment Facility Design/Build/Operate (DBO) Project will provide an integrated ozonation and ultraviolet light (ozone/UV) process to meet new disinfection standards (including 3-log Cryptosporidium inactivation) and to reduce periodic algae-related tastes. Seattle used the DBO contracting approach to create situations where integrated teams of designers, constructors, and operators would innovate to provide the most reliable and cost-effective proposal for development of the project while maintaining public ownership of the facilities. SPU managed a competitive procurement process and ultimately selected CH2M HILL to design, obtain permits, and construct and operate the Cedar Treatment Facility for up to 25 years. The Service Agreement was signed April 30, 2001, and the 180-mgd facility will be operational in 2004. SPU estimates that this DBO contract will save Seattle ratepayers $50 million compared to a conventional design/bid/build delivery approach. This savings and the accelerated delivery schedule are due in part to the innovative technical and project delivery concepts offered by CH2M HILL. These benefits are also enabled by doing business in a strong partnering relationship with effective integration of management, design, permitting, construction, operations, business, and legal talents within the expanded SPU-CH2M HILL team, including numerous affiliated companies, subcontractors, organizations, and stakeholders. This paper details the features and management approaches at the core of this benchmark project and provides a status update. In addition, the paper provides details on how innovation and integration are being applied to the project on a daily basis in terms of Web-based document sharing, design innovation, communication, and partnering techniques.

Product Details

Published:

06/01/2002

Number of Pages:

18

File Size:

1 file , 2.4 MB