The timely completion of the $180 million Broad Run Water Reclamation Facility (BRWRF) is an example of how a fully committed ongoing partnering effort can assist in the development of a consistent teamwork effort across multiple contracts in the delivery of an exceptional construction program. It is also an excellent demonstration of how overall performance objectives can be achieved while still preserving the contractual and proprietary integrity of the contractors involved. According to Rick Thoesen, Deputy General Manager for Loudoun Water, "the collaborative process employing goal-setting, problem solving, and structured partnering can create "win-win" opportunities for all concerned."

The Project
The Loudoun County Sanitation Authority (LCSA) was formed in 1959 and is responsible for providing comprehensive water and sewer services to approximately 58,000 customer accounts comprised of residents and businesses. The new BRWRF (a regional wastewater treatment plant) is intended to further supplement the existing 1,000 miles of water and sewer pipelines that predominantly serve the eastern portion of the county. This new Greenfield facility will provide water reuse opportunities to the County and included the following key components:

• Contract 1 ($86 million): Site, yard work and liquid treatment facilities
• Contracts 2 ($43 million): Secondary treatment/membrane treatment facility
• Contract 3 ($27 million): Digesters and solids treatment facility
• Contract 4 ($14 million): Operations complex
• Contract 5 ($10 ): Influent sewage pumping station

Key Project Stakeholders

• LCSA - Owner and Operator
• CH2M Hill - Design Engineer and Construction Services Manager for Contracts 1, 2, 3 and 4
• Black & Veatch - Design Engineer and Construction Services Manager for Contract 5
• Hill International - Owner Consultant
• Pizzagalli - General Contractor for Contracts 2, 3 and 5
• Fru-Con - General Contractor for Contracts 1 and 4

Project Successes
The project achieved success in a number of key goal areas, including:

• Safety: the overall program enjoyed a rate of less than 2.0 OSHA Recordable Incidents per 200,000 person-hours compared to the industry benchmark of 6.9. The Pizzagalli projects completed with zero lost workday incidents in more than 1,000 days and won the company's "Safety Project of the Year" in 2006.
• Schedule: A complex treatment plant was completed in just under four years. Construction started in June 2004 and Loudoun Water met their new discharge goal by discharging treated effluent in May 2008
• Quality: Treated effluent has met all permit parameters since June 2008 - the discharge limits are among the most stringent in the world and meet Virginia's highest water reuse standards.
• Budget: the program budget met high expectations as measured by the magnitude of change orders. The change order experience of less than 3.0 percent on the BRWRF program was less than 50 percent of the industry average.
• Effective Communication and Problem Solving: Heavy emphasis was placed upon decision-making at the working levels. Rather than encourage escalation of conflict to higher management, supervisors and superintendents were encouraged to resolve issues at their level of engagement. Such emphasis created pride in the work effort and string ownership in the outcome of the product. According to Rick Thoesen, "Leadership was expected from everyone, not just management, and a project culture was established where face-to-face dialog or phone calls for the purpose of resolving issues was emphasized. Emails to resolve issues were discouraged. This resulted in avoidance of "claim missiles" and helped to provide empathy and resolution for all parties." The direct open dialogue within the weekly submittal/RFI meeting process was critical to getting things resolved, as well as supplemental submittal review meetings. Early submission of O&M manual information was critical to the success of the Start-Up Program.

Ongoing Partnering Process