Puerto Rican Design-Build Success Story - A New Regional Advanced Wastewater Treatment System Serving Northeast Puerto Rico

The Design-Build (DB) delivery method for wastewater and water projects offers several distinct advantages to municipal utility Owners. Key considerations include project schedule compression, opportunities for innovative design features, and single-source responsibility for the design, construction, and project commissioning. The Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) has successfully used the DB project delivery approach for a variety of municipal projects across the island, and chose this alternative delivery approach for the new Fajardo regional advanced wastewater treatment facility project. The treatment facility has a capacity of 0.4 cubic meters/second (9 million gallons per day (MGD)). The project also includes three new wastewater lift stations and 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) of force main ranging from 30 to 75 cm (12 to 30 inches).PRASA retained a Design Criteria Professional/Program Manager (DCP/PM) to develop the Owner-specified project-specific design criteria and the Request for Proposals (RFP), as well as to provide ongoing technical support through design and construction phases. Proposals were received from three DB teams. The lowest-cost and responsive proposal was accepted by PRASA, and a Notice to Proceed was issued in March 2002. The selected DB team facilitated several value-engineered modifications to the base design developed by PRASA, realizing savings of over $1 million. The project was commissioned in July 2005 with minimal construction delays, even in the face of several severe hurricane events in 2004 that impacted availability of labor and materials, as well as equipment delivery and installation. Since commissioning in 2005, the treatment facility has exceeded the very stringent effluent permit limits administered by the Puerto Rican Junta de Calidad Ambiental (Environmental Quality Board, or EQB).