Fort Polk Project Hits Milestone as Completion Nears

On May 24, the North and South Fort Polk Wastewater Treatment Plants’ (WWTPs) project team held a ribbon cutting ceremony at their South Fort WWTP location to commemorate reaching substantial completion. There were more than 100 in attendance, including representatives from the Federal Government Defense Logistics Agency and the Colonel and General from the Department of the Army at Fort Polk, LA. MWH alongside American Water Military Services Group was pleased to celebrate with the Fort Polk project team and dignitaries on this special occasion. Substantial completion of the North Fort Polk WWTP will be this June with final completion scheduled for the end of July.

MWH, alongside MWH now a part of Stantec, is serving as the design-builder on this $67 million fixed-price design-build project that includes the design services and construction of the new North (1.7 mgd) and South Fort Polk (4.6 mgd) WWTPs and admin building located in Fort Polk, LA. Both plants include an influent pump station, headworks, aerations basins, clarifiers, a process building with sludge handling, chlorine contact chambers, chemical storage and feed facilities, an emergency generator, and an administration building. MWH employs a small team of only five in charge of overseeing construction, who have managed an upwards of 35 different subcontractors during the life of the project, a feat not easily accomplished by such a small team.

Despite receiving more than 230 inches of rain over the past three years, which created a few site constraints, the project team has been able to ensure completion of this project in a timely manner. With safety being one of the most important aspects of any construction site, the project team has gone above and beyond to provide a safe job site working 1,036 days (almost three years) and 633,995 man hours without a lost-time incident. This is a noteworthy accomplishment and we are proud of the MWH team.