THE TWIN ROCK PUMPING STATION:
A SUCCESSFUL RACE AGAINST TIME
Colorado Springs, CO – Adherents of design-build delivery point out that one of its strongest benefits is conformance to schedule and efficiency in overall project construction time. By involving designer, contractor, and owner at the earliest planning stages, the well-crafted design-build team may be able to achieve efficiencies in performance that are unimaginable in a more traditional delivery mode. The Colorado Twin Rock Pumping Station (TRPS) project currently nearing completion is proving this axiom in dramatic fashion. It successful construction history to date provides clear evidence that this mode of project delivery can make a significant difference in bringing a project to fruition.
Background:
Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) has a daunting task, to meet the water demands of a growing population in a region frequently bedeviled by drought. The CSU Water Resources Plan has identified four objectives to enable it to satisfy the area’s water needs:
¨ Pursue an aggressive but voluntary conservation program
¨ Make the most of existing storage and delivery systems
¨ Use more groundwater and more non-potable water for irrigation
¨ Develop a major new pipeline system
The Twin Rock Pumping Station is an integral element of this fourth objective. This project provides an extra boost to deliver water through the pipeline that runs from Twin Lakes to Rampart Reservoir near Colorado Springs, a distance of 100 miles. Much of the construction must take place at 9,000 feet, where cold and snow might affect construction timetables. CSU decided to construct a new pumping station rather than expanding and rehabilitating the two existing pumping stations. The new station is expected to pump 68 million gallons per day (mgd), an increase of 13 mgd over current capacity. Obviously, the sooner the station comes on-line, the more water will be available to residents of the Colorado Springs area.
Approach:
CSU contracted with CH2MHill Constructors, Inc. (CCI) to design and construct the pumping station. According to Bob Robler, CSU’s TRPS project manager, the utility’s primary concern was schedule and continuity. Having worked with CCI in the past, the utility was confident of the quality of the engineering for the project. “We wanted to make sure that the engineering was first rate. A second consideration was to be sure that we had a qualified contractor involved who understood what had to be done”. The fact that CCI did not have to team up with a new contractor, but had both design and construction capabilities in-house, made the decision that much easier. CSU signed a design-build letter of intent with CCI on June 5, 2001. The contract schedule calls for the project to be substantially complete by June 2, 2003, with final completion on August 29, 2003. For Allen Moles, CCI construction manager for TRPS, working on his first design-build project was an eye-opener. He is impressed with how the CCI team (which includes some additional critical subcontractors) was able to overlap construction tasks with design. Construction was able to commence with 90 percent completed design drawings. CSU’s Letter of Intent allowed CCI to pre-purchase piping underneath the pump station, the adjustable frequency drives, and the pumps and motors concurrently with most of the design activity. This pre-purchasing procurement flexibility shaved months off the construction schedule and would not have been possible if all design work had to be completed before any construction activity or equipment purchasing could begin. CSU’s Robler adds that good planning was essential to permit pre-purchasing, as strategy that was particularly important in the TRPS project, given that both the pumps (EBRARA) and the motors (Toshiba) had to be imported from Japan.
EMA, a management and technology-consulting firm responsible for the instrumentation and controls, is also a part of the CCI team. W.F. (Rick) Riddle, EMA project manager, emphasizes that the project has involved the utility from the very start of the design process. The TRPS project is Riddle’s first design-build experience, but he assumes it will not be his last. He agrees with Robler about the value of purchasing equipment earlier in the project, requiring less time to be spent on developing specifications, and permitting more time for functionality. Riddle finds the design-build approach “a lot more fun than a traditional strategy”. He feels that by engaging the owner in actual construction and implementation at the earliest stages, the facility owner is much more prepared for taking over control room responsibilities after the project is completed. EMA was also able to ensure that CSU got exactly what they wanted without adding any time to the schedule. For example, new instrumentation and controls match existing equipment and follow their design standards.
Status:
For Ray Selvy, CCI southwest regional operations manager, the success of the project is easy to explain. He points out that the “TRPS fast-track project is an example of what a truly integrated design-builder and their client can accomplish in an atmosphere of true teamwork and partnership.” To date, the TRPS project is nearing completion within budget and significantly ahead of the contracted completion date. There have been no significant departures from schedule, In fact, both Moles and Robler believe the station will be completed approximately six months ahead of schedule. Since the station’s increased pumping capacity is 13 mgd, having it on-line about a half year sooner will provide and additional 2.3 billion gallons of water to a region with significant water needs. Virtually everyone involved with the project doubts that this robust schedule could be maintained using a conventional delivery mode.