Program

Prince William County Service Authority’s (PWCSA's) H. L. Mooney Advanced Water Reclamation Facility (Mooney AWRF) in Woodbridge, VA, is home to several extensive processes designed to treat 24 million gallons per day of municipal wastewater to the highest limits in the country. This presentation will focus on how the Owner is utilizing Progressive Design-Build to rehabilitate, upgrade and modernize key unit processes in 19 separate plant locations, while maintaining service continuity and meeting all demand conditions. It is a continuation of the presentation given in Seattle in 2023. This presentation will discuss how the Owner utilized Progressive Design-Build delivery to advance from design through GMP, and the early stages of construction. The presentation will discuss the benefits of co-location of project team and design focus meetings; formulating an acceptable GMP within a volatile market; advancing the design while promoting development of plant personnel; working in good faith during the “gap” period between GMP submission and official Owner acceptance; utilization of an Owner’s Advisor during design; providing cost certainty through communication of open-book accounting, public outreach and community/industry engagement; additional funding acquisition during design; and shaping bid packages for local-, minority- and women-owned subcontractor selection and engagement.

Lump sum DB allows Owners and Design-Builders to determine and assign risk due to the entity best able to manage the risk. What happens in today’s uncertain market? Do you rely on contract protections or do you roll up your sleeves and work diligently to find solutions? The uncertain market has been an eye opener for our industry. The Stanislaus Regional Water Authority (SRWA) has developed mitigation alternatives and been able to maintain schedule and budgets to minimize the impacts from the unreliable market. Collaborative project delivery offers the flexibility to work through unpredictable market conditions to minimize cost and schedule impacts with quick decision making. Early procurement decisions, early construction packages, collaboration between the designer and contractor to align with material availability, and frequent communication with manufacturers and suppliers was shown to be effective in minimizing overall project impacts to the SRWA. Traditional delivery using the Design/Bid/Build approach would likely not have resulted in controlling market timing and risk pricing. Project solutions to address market volatility is one of the many areas of focus in collaborative project delivery and the SRWA experience demonstrates how to maneuver through some of the most challenging market conditions seen in our lifetime.

Many Owners hesitate to deliver a project via Progressive Design-Build (PDB) because it feels like granting a blank check to the design-builder. Owners are used to having market-verified, not-to-exceed pricing and city-defined standard contract terms from the outset of a project. How can Owners be sure that they’re getting a square deal? This question is, perhaps, the biggest challenge that holds back Owner adoption of PDB delivery. Fortunately, we believe that this obstacle is more perceived than real. If they’re thoughtful in their approach, PDB Owners can often get a much better deal than they could through traditional Design/Bid/Build delivery. This presentation will focus on the core building blocks of a square deal: developing a fair and balanced contract, obtaining price transparency up front, negotiating a Guaranteed Price Proposal and appropriately handling project risk.

 

The primary goal of this presentation is to prepare PDB owners to face their customers and their governing bodies and state with confidence that they’re getting a fair deal. As a secondary goal, non-owners may find the contents helpful for understanding owner perspectives and, consequently, understanding how they can approach owners with proposals that

In 2020, the city of Wilmington, Ohio, elected to utilize the Progressive Design-Build delivery model for their upcoming WWTP project. Early in the project’s Preconstruction Phase, the Design-Builder identified the project’s budget as a major risk that was exacerbated by recent increases in construction costs. To mitigate the risk of an unaffordable project, the Design-Build Team worked collaboratively throughout the project to identify ways to reduce the construction cost while still providing the city with a robust treatment facility. Utilizing an integrated team consisting of the Owner, builder, designer and criterion engineer, numerous innovative Value Engineering (VE) solutions were developed, many of which were incorporated into the design. Additionally, many components of the project were procured early, including all process equipment and an Early Sitework Bid Package. These early packages locked in the costs for these components, mitigating the risk that further cost escalation would negatively affect the city’s budget. These cost-saving solutions resulted in the project being delivered at a GMP that was within the city’s budget. In hindsight, identifying the project’s budget as a major risk early in the Preconstruction Phase was a significant benefit that Design-Build brought to this project, providing “crystal-ball-like” cost reassurance throughout the project.

Using Progressive Design-Build (PDB), the City of Wichita embarked on delivering its largest capital project ever to replace it’s 80-year-old water treatment plant with the new 120 MGD Northwest Water Treatment Facility (NWWF). Not only did the city have a limited budget of $524M, but tight WIFIA deadlines, emerging business enterprise (EBE) goals and a reluctant ratepayer base created some unique opportunities to demonstrate how true collaboration from concept through completion helped the city accomplish its major objectives for the project, including:

• Develop the best rate structure for its rate payers by locking in low cost of money using a combination of WIFIA and SRF loans and meeting "shovel ready" design requirements in just nine months to save over $90M in financing costs.
• In addition to WIFA and SRF “BE” goals, the project team was able to grow the city’s EBE program through community engagement, focused outreach and intentional work packaging. The combination of the efforts accomplished project specific goals while also building a legacy capacity of emerging businesses for future work in the city.
• Demonstrate how to create an “every voice matters” environment through strategic integration of the Owner, design-builder, design subconsultants, subcontractors and vendors during the phase 1 process to develop and deliver a successful GMP, and finish phase 2 final design during the pandemic on a fast-track schedule to meet tight project deadlines while exceeding budgetary goals.

The Wichita story is nearing completion after a nearly five-year journey from conceptual design to a commissioning ready facility, a true testimony to the Power of Partnership for the City of Wichita and its nearly 500,000 customers.

Touted by Owners as a highly valuable education and networking experience, the Owners Only Forum allows open, honest discussion and provides Owner professionals the opportunity to share views, pose questions, find solutions to project delivery challenges and network with colleagues.

"Owner Advisors are not allowed in the Owners Forum unless DBIA has obtained written confirmation from the Owner that the Advisor is at the conference specifically serving as an extension of the Owner.'

Industry professionals, including consultants, are not permitted in this session.

As part of the Sustainable Water Initiative for Tomorrow (SWIFT) program, Hampton Roads Sanitation District’s (HRSD) is closing their 21 MGD Boat Harbor Treatment Plant and building a large pump station and transmission force main to convey wastewater to another treatment plant across the James River. The $150M force main project is using best value Design-Build delivery and started construction in July 2023. This project will install a new HDPE pipe ranging from 42-inch to 54-inch diameter, using over 4 miles of marine trenching plus a record-breaking horizontal directional drill with HDPE pipe. While prescriptive requirements were noted in the RFP, the Design-Builder was encouraged to propose performance-based alternatives. The Owner and Design-Builder will discuss how their teams worked together to evolve the design to better meet the project outcomes and navigate a complex permitting structure. The presentation will describe several best practices and lessons-learned that are applicable to other best value Design-Build projects including: appropriate bridging documents to support best value Design-Build procurement while encouraging innovation; best practices to build a collaborative team from kickoff through construction; identifying solutions to overcome permitting and design challenges and meet a stringent schedule.

While there are still pockets of disruption, the material supply chain appears to have returned to some level of pre-pandemic predictability. The labor component of the supply chain, however, is becoming more strained. Industry associations report a shortage of 500,000 craft labor positions already. Several construction trades report that up to 40% of their members will retire in a decade. Enrollment in many construction engineering disciplines has been in a steady decline. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and PFAS projects are adding more projects to agencies existing capital improvement programs. This is creating capacity challenges at all levels of project staffing. The collaborative nature of Design-Build selection and delivery can mitigate these challenges, including early supply chain engagement, team logistics planning and Owners’ outreach to industry. Our diverse panel will look at the labor issue from a project staffing and execution standpoint and provide suggestions on attracting the right team with the right capacity to design-build projects while leveraging limited resources. Presented by the Market Volatility and Supply Chain subcommittee of the Water/Wastewater Markets Committee.

After approximately two years of planning, the Water and Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County (WSACC) elected to use the Progressive Design-Build (PDB) delivery method to expand the Rocky River Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant (RRRWWTP) in two phases: first to 30 MGD (ongoing) and then to 34 MGD (under design). The main driver for this selection was schedule. The Rocky River project has been extremely well managed, executed and is a major collaborative success in many areas. The potential focus topics include conversion of DBB delivery to PDB after design had started, navigating multiple GMPs on a multi-phase plant upgrade, MOPO, supply-chain challenges and mitigation, simultaneous management of design work and ESDCs, funding coordination with the Owner, technical elements pertaining to bioreactors and sidestream treatment, the value of collaboration with the Owner, effective use of models for design reviews and overall lessons learned. WSACC owns and operates the RRRWWTP located in Concord, NC. The RRRWWTP was originally constructed in the late 1970s. The facility is currently permitted to treat 26.5 million gallons per day (MGD). In 2019, it became apparent that the RRRWWTP would need to be expanded to support the anticipated area growth.

Welcome!  

Pick up conference badge and materials.

Welcome!  

Pick up conference badge and materials.

Welcome!  

Pick up conference badge and materials.

Design-build is no longer “alternative,” but instead a mainstream delivery method that continues to grow in popularity. With continued growth expected, DBIA must remain at the forefront of trends, challenges and opportunities that drive both the evolution of our organization, and the industry at large.   

This years’ Practitioners Forum will take an up close and personal look at DBIA’s highest priority initiatives.  Topics include key considerations for the expanded use and interest of Progressive Design-Build, perspectives from the A/E community on design-build challenges, understanding the importance of early trade partner involvement, technology to drive efficiency and outcomes, design management in design-build, and much more. 

Don’t miss your opportunity to play a key role in shaping the future of Design-Build Done Right®. 

Facing a year of unprecedented zero allocation of the water supply to Southern California from the State Water Project, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California had to look for other means of delivering water as quickly as possible to areas within its distribution system that relied almost solely on imported water from Northern California for its water needs. This presentation will feature the process to develop organizational readiness including attending DBIA conferences; curated presentations and tours by local contractors, design consultants and water agencies; on-the-job training in workshops during the development of the RFQ; and in-house presentations, while addressing the main drivers for the project such as the need for a rapid response to extended drought conditions, the need for and selection of the Owner’s Advisor and outside legal counsel, and working through the development of the RFQ and selection of the Design-Builder for a first-time Owner in the design-build work environment. With targeted training in various forms from different sources, augmentation of staff with design-build experts, judicious planning of the RFQ development process, and support from management and the Board, Metropolitan issued an RFQ for Progressive Design-Build services in March 2023 as planned.

Manatee County’s existing 24-inch gravity sewer along Cortez Road was experiencing high flows with increased risk of sanitary sewer overflows. Simulations of current and future conditions showed that during wet weather the pipe surcharged at maximum day flows, thus preventing the existing Master Lift Station 1-M from collecting wastewater from Master Lift Station 5 and surrounding collection grid. To eliminate this risk, the county decided to extend existing force main using Progressive Design-Build to gain full engagement of all project stakeholders. Using the best practice of open and consistent collaboration, the Woodruff & Sons/Wade Trim Team worked with the county from the onset of the pursuit through the final design phase leveraging engagement of all stakeholders to deliver innovative and low risk solutions to the county’s needs. The team and the county worked seamlessly to obtain easements from an adjacent developer to relocate approximately half of the force main route and avoid FDOT right-of-way. Following the fundamental principles of adhering to consistent and open collaboration allowed the team and county to incorporate all stakeholder input and deliver design on time, procure material early and commence construction as planned.

Design-Build delivery is an effective tool to complete almost any type of infrastructure project, including new construction and rehabilitation. While individual projects benefit from the use of Design-Build, some Owners implement large programs that include numerous projects over many years. In the case of asset management, Owners may use a programmatic approach to proactively address existing infrastructure over a period of years. Often, these programs are comprised of a series of projects that are connected either physically or through related schedules that mandate specific deadlines. The poor implementation of one project can have negative implications to the overall program. This panel, comprised exclusively of Owners,  will examine the lessons learned using Design-Build to address programmatic needs. In addition to discussion on past projects, these Owners will highlight upcoming projects and why they believe Design-Build is an effective delivery method to help them meet their objectives.

When evaluating delivery methods, Owners need to consider project drivers, their organization’s capacity and risks to implement the selected delivery method. For collaborative delivery methods, these considerations are essential to establish requirements for procuring and executing contracts while ensuring project success in collaboration with delivery partners and stakeholders. In April 2017, the Virginia legislature passed a law mandating the remediation of Alexandria, Virginia’s combined sewer overflows (CSO) by July 1, 2025. The law set AlexRenew, Alexandria’s wastewater treatment authority, on a path to implement its RiverRenew Tunnel Project according to the most aggressive schedule for a program of this size and scale. The schedule required the planning, procurement and development of initial design of project to progress in parallel paths to allow sufficient time for construction. AlexRenew, with support from its Owner Advisor, evaluated delivery options and determined a fixed-price design-build contract would most efficiently support the project needs. This presentation will delve into AlexRenew’s evaluation of delivery methods, how the $454.4 million fixed price design-build contract was effectively procured in 2020, and lessons learned now that the project is nearing its third year of construction.

Water and wastewater projects can take a lot of twists and turns with ever-changing environmental regulations and ever-expanding, far-reaching sustainability initiatives, just to name a few. To navigate these complex situations, partnerships, synergy and cohesion are critical, but the rigid nature of the traditional procurement model can be restrictive. Even in the early stages of project delivery, Progressive Design-Build (PDB) offers the most dynamic, flexible opportunity to deliver a successful outcome by taking a holistic view of the municipality’s objectives, goals and priorities. Innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and PDB fosters the collaboration that drives this creativity. This presentation will reveal the power of the engineer and constructor working together with Pima County Wastewater Reclamation Department staff early in the lifecycle of a PDB project to drive innovative ideas that consider the big picture — everything from operations input to overall county initiatives. The result is a holistic vision aimed at the achievement of county-wide objectives.

Our exhibitors represent some of the top names in the industry offering a variety of products and services of interest to our attendees.

Don't miss the excitement!  Join Us!

Join us as both the Design-Build for Water/Wastwater and Design-Build for Transportation and Aviation attendees come together in learning and networking. 

Our exhibitors represent some of the top names in the industry offering a variety of products and services of interest to our attendees.

Don't miss the excitement!  Join Us!

Our exhibitors represent some of the top names in the industry offering a variety of products and services of interest to our attendees.

Don't miss the excitement!  Join Us!

Learn about the development of the new, state-of-the-art 50 MGD Prospect Lake Clean Water Center for the City of Fort Lauderdale, FL. Design has progressed and construction is underway for a new drinking water treatment plant in Fort Lauderdale that will replace an existing 70-year old facility and deliver the majority of fresh water for the city. Panelists will review key project drivers and lessons learned while offering an overview on the general scope of work, Florida’s unsolicited P3 process, involved parties/organizations/teaming structure, financial structure and risk transfers. The new facility is the result of a public-private partnership (DBFOM) between the City of Fort Lauderdale, IDE Technologies, LTD. and Ridgewood Infrastructure. Kiewit Water Facilities Florida is the design-builder, Kiewit Engineering is the lead designer, and IDE Technologies will perform process design, procurement, and manage operations and maintenance with city employees over the 30-year term. Hazen and Sawyer is serving as the City’s Technical Advisor and Jacobs is serving as the Advisor to IDE/Ridgewood. The project is slated to be complete by 2026.

The Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) provides nearly 40% of Michigan’s population with water of unquestionable quality, as well as effective and efficient wastewater services to nearly 30% of the state. GLWA is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Combined Sewer Outflows (CSO) facilities in its footprint. Understanding that the repair of these critical structures required a higher level of investigation, solution building and budget adherence, GLWA chose the Investigate-Design-Build Delivery (IDB) system for a major repair of the CSO outfall structures. Design-Build and Integrated Project Delivery are growing delivery systems for major new construction projects. However, similar and additional benefits can be gained in using an integrated Design-Build approach for both small and large repair projects where there is a need to identify the degree of the problem and the root cause before developing the proper repair design. For these types of problems, a team IDB approach extends the advantages of Design-Build to the investigative stage and enhances the results during the design and construction phases.

Ready to hear about the nitty gritty of meeting performance guarantees? The City of San José procured a design-builder that could collaboratively develop innovative technical solutions for a new 260-MGD headworks at their Regional Wastewater Facility. The city used the Progressive Design-Build delivery method for multiple reasons of which one driver was to transfer the risk of the performance of the facility through the development of performance guarantees. It was imperative that the new headworks facility ease the operator’s ability to transfer flows from the four separate locations that influent flow comes into the existing two headworks facilities. To achieve the simplified operations, the team aligned closely with the operations staff to understand the existing challenges, incorporate their requests and develop performance guarantees. This presentation will show how the diverse types of meetings and workshops were focused on performance of the facility and collaborating with the operators as well as discuss how many different team members participated in these focused meetings to ensure a successful outcome. The specific performance guarantees that were developed and how they were developed will be presented. The training and startup process will also be presented.

In 2020, Louisville MSD identified four critical large diameter combined sewer project areas consisting of approximately 40,000 LF needing inspection, assessment and potential rehabilitation. Most of these sewers were constructed in the late 1800s ranging in diameter up to 12’. MSD selected a Progressive Design-Build (PDB) delivery method for its schedule, cost and collaboration benefits to effectively develop best-value solutions for each project area. Early inspections identified defects in two project areas that required immediate repair. Quick mobilization was possible under the PDB delivery method with urgent decisions made and implemented on defect repairs, road closures and construction methods by the PDB team. Each project area had its own unique design and construction challenges, including limiting business and traffic impacts, managing worker safety and navigating permitting requirements. The PDB team prioritized the sewer repairs and utilized the full toolbox of rehabilitation methods, including sliplining, cured-in-place pipe, epoxy coating, shotcrete, liner panels and spot repairs. The collaborative selection of each rehab approach included best-value considerations for defect severity, host pipe material, access locations, traffic and business impacts, material cost, material availability and pump around logistics. The PDB delivery method was critical to the completion of seven rehab projects under this contract.

Join us for an insightful panel discussion on becoming a collaborative owner of choice. Panelists will lend their unique perspectives and provide meaningful insight on strategies and tactics they are using to attract participants for their project opportunities. Attendees will leave with greater insight on recent shifts in the way work is being pursued, understand how this impacts different stakeholders and identify actionable steps to establish lasting partnerships and achieve design-build excellence on your next Water/Wastewater Project.

Robert Bilott is the tenacious environmental lawyer who became “DuPont’s worst nightmare,” according to The New York Times. The story in his book, Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer’s Twenty-Year Battle Against Dupont, inspired the major motion picture, Dark Waters (November 2019), featuring Academy-Award nominee Mark Ruffalo as Rob Bilott.

Bilott was a corporate defense attorney for eight years until he took on an environmental suit that upended his entire career—and exposed a brazen, decades-long history of chemical pollution. He shares the story of his epic 20-year legal battle against DuPont that consumed his life and exposed the worst case of corporate coverup and environmental contamination in modern history.

Bilott recounts the day a farmer came to his firm, convinced the creek on his property had been poisoned by runoff from a nearby DuPont landfill. Audiences will hear the remarkable legal journey that ultimately revealed massive chemical contamination of unprecedented scale and scope, now impacting virtually every living thing on this planet.

Bilott’s story is an unforgettable legal drama about malice and manipulation, perseverance against the failings of environmental regulation, and one lawyer’s quest to expose the truth about a previously unknown and still unregulated chemical—presenting one of the greatest human health crises of the 21st century.

To date, Bilott—a partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP—has helped secure over $1 billion in benefits for his clients exposed to contaminated drinking water. Among his many honors, Bilott was selected as one of the best lawyers in America for several years running and in 2017 received the Right Livelihood Award, commonly known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize.”