Mark Twain described synergy as “the bonus that is achieved when things work together harmoniously.” Rob Harris reports on a project in Gwinnett County, Georgia, where an exceptional team has come together and achieved some remarkable results.
What do you get when you put a county government, an established construction company, major subcontractors and an engineering partnership all in the same room to plan, design and construct a major infrastructure project? Well, if you ask any of the team members of the Yellow River Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) project, the response is enthusiasm and an improved outcome for the overall project and project owner.
In 2007, a group comprising Gwinnett County, Georgia; Jordan, Jones and Goulding, Inc. (a Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. company), in association with CH2M Hill and Precision Planning, Inc.; and Pizzagalli Construction Company got together to create, design and construct the county’s Yellow River WRF. There were no construction drawings at the time; the group had the county’s master plan, a budget, a clear set of policies, and a goal. “We decided that everybody had to be here on site,” says Adam Minchey, director of special projects for Gwinnett County. “We are truly an integrated team. Rather than sitting on opposite sides of the table, we’re all sitting on the same side, and this has worked out really well.”
The Yellow River WRF modernization project, when completed in 2012, will be a state-of-the-art facility incorporating the latest technology to treat wastewater. Using a membrane bioreactor filtration system manufactured by Zenon, part of General Electric, the plant will have the capability to remove nutrients and filter items as small as bacteria and some viruses. The use of better technology will enable the county to decrease the footprint of the Yellow River plant while increasing the plant’s capacity and the buffer zone around the facility. The county’s plan to close some of its other aging waste water facilities and incorporate them into the Yellow River plant is well under way with only one of the aging facilities still remaining open.
The capacity at the Yellow River plant will be increasing from 14.5 million gallons per day (MGD) to 22 MGD. This modernization will take place while at the same time maintaining the plant’s treatment capacity and with limited disruption to the surrounding neighborhood. “The obvious challenge for us in the beginning was learning about the existing facility and how the new construction would have to be performed,” says Bob Huie, project manager for Pizzagalli Construction. “This was done in order to perform the work efficiently and to keep the sequence of construction going, making sure everything was considered in the plan.”
One of the first challenges was the installation of two 20-million-gallon water equalization tanks to handle the excess sewage while one half of the existing facility was literally torn out and rebuilt to the new specifications.
As of today this $275 million project is ahead of schedule and under budget despite the fact that the team has faced many difficult challenges. It was able to handle problems as they occurred because the operations, engineering and construction decision-makers were all on-site. “We have a 14-trailer complex, and all of them are interconnected,” says Jim Grum of Jacobs Engineering. “When the understanding of each other’s goals became the common goal, very little got lost in translation.”
One of the most unique aspects of the project is the ability for virtually anyone with access to pull up 3-D models of the complete project. Using Autodesk software to create the images, the entire site was scanned into the computer system using lasers for accuracy. Autodesk offers free viewing software called Navisworks Freedom; this enabled the 3-D models to be shared on any computer connected to the site’s intranet. “Virtually everybody connected with the project has the capability to pull up and view the models, then walk through them themselves,” adds Grum. Architects, construction employees, and even future maintenance technicians can walk through the facility and make suggestions or comments about the design. “We are a completely open-book project; everyone here has access to this model,” says Minchey.
On completion of the project, the effect of the WRF on the environment will be greatly reduced. Consolidating three of the county’s aging wastewater treatment plants into one state-of-the-art facility will improve overall system reliability and reduce environmental impact. The new technology incorporated into the plant allows for cleaner water being returned to the river and provides a greater level of odor and noise control. One of the benefits is that by becoming smaller and more efficient, the plant has less of an impact on the surrounding neighborhoods. Consolidating the county’s facilities is very cost-efficient and will reduce overall operation and maintenance costs of the system, and the improved reliability of the newer systems assures county residents of a continuing high level of service and environmental protection.
When the construction of the new operations building is completed, it will also be a LEED-certified facility. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internationally recognized certification system developed by the US Green Building Council to provide verification that a building was designed and built using strategies intended to increase energy savings and water efficiencies, reduce CO2 emissions, and improve indoor environmental quality. Pizzagalli also incorporates the philosophy of environmental sustainability into its daily business practices, from incorporating the waste concrete, rock and asphalt back into the site, to recycling the waste steel, aluminum and copper.
Henry Ford is quoted as saying, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” Huie puts it another way. “The owner /engineer/contractor on-site approach has turned out to be a real asset to the whole project. In my opinion it has allowed the project to be as far along as it is today.” Minchey sums it up nicely too. “We truly are a team out here.”www.gwinnettcounty.com www.pizzagalli.com
