MWH was awarded the 2023 ENR Intermountain Award of Merit in the Water and Environment category for the Logan Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF). The award recognized the team’s hard work and dedication in completing the largest single capital improvement project for the City. Lance Ota, Project Manager, graciously accepted the award on behalf of the team. “Most of the contractors would agree that you get a once-in-a-lifetime job where you have a great owner – the City of Logan, a collaborative engineer – Carollo, and all the trade contractors that were involved that didn’t only look after themselves but watched over everybody. The team on the job was more like a family.” This sentiment was echoed throughout the project, which addressed the inadequacies of a 460-acre lagoon system in Cache County, Utah. The City of Logan undertook this project to replace the lagoons with a new 18 million gallon per day (MGD) regional WWTF. It’s not only the largest magnetite dosing (BioMag®) municipal treatment plant in the United States but also represents the city of Logan’s most substantial capital improvement project.

Having a sense of urgency to meet stringent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, Logan, with MWH and Carollo, shifted from a designbid- build delivery method to a Construction Manager/General Contractor (CM/GC) method to expedite the schedule. The result was a facility completed in a remarkable 3.5 years, featuring over 24,500 cubic yards of structural concrete and more than 6.6 million pounds of reinforcement.

However, the project initially faced financial hurdles, with estimates exceeding the city budget by $64 million. The City almost abandoned the project. During pre-construction, MWH huddled together with Carollo and the City to find a solution. Ota reflects, “The unified project team conducted an intense, multi-week-long value engineering workshop to bring the cost closer to the City’s original estimate.”

These efforts paid off, with the project finishing $1.3 million under budget and 45 days ahead of schedule. Moreover, the focus on safety led to a remarkable record of zero lost time accidents (when an injury occurs on the job that causes a loss of productivity) across 428,186 hours and a 1.4 OSHA recordable incident rate (the number of incidents that have occurred on-site). A collaborative planning strategy with all parties ensured that everything was done right the first time around. The project’s success extended beyond logistics and finance. It was also a triumph of craftsmanship and quality, as recognized by the Intermountain Chapter 2023 Excellence in Concrete Award. Hosted by the American Concrete Institute (ACI), the award celebrates innovation and excellence throughout the global concrete design and construction sector. Ota looks back on it fondly. “The whole project, every day, was exciting to go to. It’s one of those jobs where all of us will look back as a high point in our careers.”

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