Learning Lessons from Design/Build Projects at Nevada Irrigation District

Nevada Irrigation District (District) is a utility district located in the Sierra foothills of California. The District is the second largest graphically by service area in the State and provides irrigation and treated water services, generates hydroelectric power, and provides recreational opportunities. The District has an extensive canal system of over 450 miles, 300 miles of treated water pipelines, seven water treatment plants, and generation capacity of over 82 megawatts of electricity. The District has a diverse set of engineering needs requiring flexible procurement methods. In the last few years, the District has begun using Design Build in its methods for procurement of projects. These projects include a 10.5 Million Gallon treated water storage tanks replacement, a raw water pump station, building rehabilitation, hydroelectric control systems replacement, and a low-level outlet for a reservoir.This variety of different projects using the Design/Build method has provided numerous learning experiences for District staff. There have been good and bad experiences and learning lessons from each of these experiences. Lists of experiences discussed in this paper are the followingAligning legal and engineering staff on contractsEstablishing review protocol and criteria for the proposal evaluationAvoiding the cheapest contractor dilemma – selecting the right contractorGiving a good outline of the project scope but not giving too much information to eliminate creative thought or just bidding without consideration of designChanging roles by District, Engineering, and Contractors staffUsing the bidding process to evaluate multiple sizes of workPredicting field issues and placing in the contractChange orders – could this be anticipated by a professional with 20 years of experience?Creating an environment of creativity and the value of creativityTimely responses and Getting the job doneDesign build for fast trackingBenefits to the customerThe District will give a cost comparison between the Nevada Irrigation Districts 10.5 Million Gallon Water Storage Tank – Design Build project and the Placer County Water Agencies (PCWA) – 5 Million Gallon design then bid project (conventional). Comparison of these projects has indicated just under $2 million dollars of saving to the District customers. The District and PCWA are two water utilities abutting each other, and this comparison provides an example of the potential saving on Design/Build.