Marlene Feist, Utilities Strategic Development Director, No Phone Number Available
Monday, March 14, 2016 at 9:25 a.m.
Construction on a huge project to upgrade the City's Riverside Park Water Reclamation Facility is set to begin this fall. Around $60 million in subcontractor and supply contracts will be available for this project, and local contractors are encouraged to attend an upcoming outreach event to learn more about this opportunity.
The event is set for Wednesday, March 16, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the McKinstry Innovation Center, 850 E. Spokane Falls Blvd.
For this project, the City is using an alternative process for delivering a public works project called the General Contractor/Construction Manager (GCCM) process. With this approach, which is in lieu of the traditional design-bid-build process, the City selects a company to serve as the “GCCM” early in the process to assist with evaluating the design to help ensure its constructability. Additional companies must perform at least half the work and will serve as subcontractors and suppliers to the GCCM.
In the fall of 2015, the City selected MWH Constructors Inc., Slayden Constructors Inc., and B&E Electric, a joint venture of Bellevue, Wash., to serve as the GCCM on this project. The group is already at work assisting with pre-construction services.
The joint venture is hosting the outreach event, along with the City. The event will include information about anticipated contract opportunities and on how to become a qualified subcontractor or supplier. The team is strongly encouraging small, disadvantaged, minority-owned, and women-owned subcontractors and suppliers to participate.
Subcontractors specializing in demolition, excavation, yard piping, cast-in-place concrete, process mechanical, architectural, electrical and instrumentation, HVAC, painting and coatings, site work and paving, landscaping, and other areas likely will be needed to complete portions of this project.
The major upgrade at the plant is commonly known as the Next Level of Treatment. The upgrade will vastly improve the quality of the effluent that is released to the Spokane River. Construction is set to begin in 2016 or 2017.
The upgrade will increase the removal of phosphorus from the effluent to more than 99 percent, up from 90 percent today. Phosphorus has been associated with low oxygen levels and algae blooms in Lake Spokane that can harm aquatic life. The system also will remove greater amounts of heavy metals, PCBs, and other pollutants.
Ultimately, this project is part of the City's much-larger efforts to improve the health of the Spokane River. In addition to this upgrade to the treatment plant, the City's Integrated Clean Water Plan details work to reduce overflows from combined sanitary and stormwater sewers and reduce the amount of stormwater reaching the river from separated storm sewers.
