Value Engineering - Design-Build for Water and Wastewater Projects - page 254

Equus Beds Aquifer for recovery and reuse as demands and availability of other water
resources dictate.
The City of Wichita procured the Surface Water Treatment Facility with DB delivery
approach to maintain its critical path on the overall program schedule. The development
of the Surface Water Treatment Plant and Intake provides an excellent example of multi-
faceted VE, which was conducted at multiple stages of design and resulted in significant
enhancements and cost savings to the project.
Value engineering in the conceptual and preliminary design phase. Phase I of the
ASR Program included a pilot program and proof of concept in which several treatment
technologies were tested both at full scale (i.e., 10 mgd or 38 ML/d) and through pilot
demonstrations. Using the data and knowledge gained in the Phase I demonstration,
the City then began the conceptual and preliminary design of the 30-mgd (114-ML/d)
Phase II pretreatment plant and intake and began preparation of the RFP package for
solicitation of a design-builder.
Near the conclusion of the 30 percent design completion, the City's program man-
agement team facilitated a structured process validation and VE workshop. The VE team
included the owner, conceptual designer, and a panel of experts in fields of water treat-
ment and hydrogeology. The VE team made several recommendations that were incorpo-
rated into the design, the most significant of which was the addition of presedimentation
facilities ahead of the membrane filtration process. The VE workshop resulted in the vali-
dation of the concept and project scope and established an initial budget for the Surface
Water Treatment Plant and Intake of $109 million.
Value engineering in the proposal phase. The 30 percent design completion package
was provided to a list of prequalified design-builders with instruction to provide a proposal
based on the 30 percent design package and alternate proposals for enhancements or
value engineered approaches. Again, prospective design-builders that implemented VE
practices in the proposal phase fared well. The design-builder that most proficiently
incorporated value engineered approaches, and therefore presented the most competitive
cost, was selected. The successful design-builder was able to offer nearly $35 million in
savings as compared to the budget established at the 30 percent design completion level.
It is important to note that the design-builder's proposal was prepared with no additional
input from the owner other than the 30 percent design completion package that was
provided with the RFP.
Value engineering in the post-selection phase. Following selection, the project was
procured on a DB task order basis. The first task order was to complete a third phase of
VE and to complete the detailed design followed by a second task order for construction.
Over a period of 90 days, the program manager, DB team, owner, and concept designer
met regularly to review VE concepts and construction details. While less formal, the
VE workshops were facilitated by the program manager and resulted in several design
changes that had no significant impact on cost but made very significant improvements in
project functionality. These changes include relocation of the presedimentation basin to
the intake site and redesign of the presedimentation basin to facilitate easier solids removal
and cleaning. Cost reductions for the presedimentation basin changes were applied
toward the addition of degassifiers to remove residual ozone from the process stream,
thus reducing the potential for downstream corrosion. In addition, the clearwell, high
service pump station, and membrane filtration building were designed and constructed