Project Management Award of Excellence
Drayton Valley Raw Water Pump Station ISL Engineering and Land Services
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CANADIAN CONSULTING ENGINEER
station on a flood plain carried substantial challenges, particularly with the lower budget. The mission changed from building a fully encompassing pump station as its own independent building to determining how to move water from the river up to the new facility, 96 m above water level and 2.2 km west of the river. Highs and lows The design needed to ensure the pump could operate in both high and low flow years. Owing to the old building’s location in a flood plain and its relative age, it had high operational costs. The town started decommissioning the WTP in the mid-2010s, yet even once the new facility was online, the town still had to maintain the old one to pump raw water. Finding efficiencies The contract naturally aligned with target value delivery (TVD), a management prac-
tice that encourages lean design strategies to answer clients’ needs within fixed budget constraints. This included streamlining roles, such as having the construction project manager double as the superintendent. The team collaborated in live estimating sessions using market data. This helped set the project schedule and eliminate waste by only providing the implementation drawings the construction team needed, avoiding unnecessary iterations and eliminating the need to design for multiple outcomes. Another solution that reduced capital costs was using non-traditional submersible pumps. As a result, the new pump station functions even when fully submerged in a flood. Benefits of IPD The collaborative design process enabled unconventional solutions, like separating mechanical and electrical components that are traditionally in one building. This helped the pump station resist flooding and reduced September/October 2022
PHOTO COU RT E SY I S L E NG I N E E R I NG A N D L A N D S E RV IC E S
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ommunities have grown along the North Saskatchewan River over time. Situated on these banks, the town of Drayton Valley’s original water treatment plant (WTP) was abandoned in place, left solely to pump raw water to a new WTP. Two concerns became apparent. First, without storage for raw water, rising levels occasionally bypassed protective berms surrounding the old WTP, compromising the town’s drinking water supply for weeks at a time. Second, it became prohibitively expensive to maintain. It was clear Drayton Valley needed a new raw water pump station. This led to the first-ever implementation of a Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC) 30 Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) Contract for a municipal infrastructure project. The team, including ISL, focused on securing the town’s water source from routine contamination brought on by flooding, thus providing a reliable source of drinking water for more than 7,000 residents. The operation’s first objective was to supply enough raw water to meet the new WTP’s capacity requirement, allowing the town to focus on securing funding. ISL’s experience with similarly sized projects suggested it warranted approximately $6 million for a conventional build, before design costs, but Drayton Valley was only able to secure $4.2 million. The town’s best value would come from IPD, with collaboration from all parties (owner, consultant, general contractor, major sub-consultants and major trades) throughout each project phase. Designing a visually unobtrusive pump
