The evolution of partnering has risen out of a desire to return to theold-fashioned way of doing business. The need for partnering also stems fromgovernmental procedures in which contractors are selected on a low bid basis. Inmany cases, living with the lowest bidder causes a great deal of concern amongowners and operators of drinking water systems, not to mention constructionmanagers, engineers, designers, construction contractors, and equipment suppliers.It is particularly unsettling when entering into a contract with firms that areunfamiliar, as was the case in the County of Spotsylvania, Virginia. This set thestage as an excellent opportunity to apply the partnering process to theconstruction of the Motts Run Water Treatment Plant. The 12 Million Gallons perDay (MGD) Motts Run Water Treatment Plant is under construction in SpotsylvaniaCounty, Virginia. It will use the Rappahannock River, the existing Motts RunReservoir and the future Hunting Run Reservoir as sources to supply the Countyand the City of Fredericksburg with potable water. The $22.3 million projectincludes such features as a 28 MGD shoreline raw water intake and raw waterpumping station, more than 3,000 feet of 36-inch raw water transmission mains,rapid mixers, contact basins, an innovative clarification process, filtration,pre- and post-chemical systems, a 2.1 million gallon baffled clearwell and highservice pumping station, over 5,000 feet of finished water transmission mains,and wastewater handling facilities. This paper describes the partnering processused by the County to design and construct the Motts Run Water Treatment Plant.
