DRAYTON VALLEY RAW WATER PUMP STATION IPD

ISL recommended an alternate project delivery method known as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) for this project. This delivery method integrates all stakeholders (owner, consultant, general contractor, major sub consultants) throughout all the phases of the project.

Client: Town of Drayton Valley

Location: Drayton Valley, AB

Project Type: Water Engineering

About This Project

The Town of Drayton Valley required a new raw water pump station to supply their new water treatment plant (WTP). The old WTP was converted to an interim raw water pump station (RWPS) in 2015 when the new WTP was brought on-line. The interim RWPS was aged, at the end of its useful life, and had a maximum capacity of 8 MLD. The new WTP has a capacity of 18 MLD so the interim RWPS was causing a bottleneck to the entire potable water supply system. In addition, the old WTP was built in the floodplain of the North Saskatchewan River and had many operational challenges associated with it.

ISL had completed previous conceptual design work for a new RWPS that included a conventional style wet well and vertical turbine pumps. To accommodate for the 1:100 year flood elevation, the design of that style of pump station would have dictated that the wet well depth was going to be in excess of 15m. This was a large challenge as the excavation required would be enormous and problematic to manage being it is adjacent to the river and at the toe of a slope that is actively moving.

The estimated cost for this conceptual RWPS was determined to be between $6M to $7M under a conventional design bid-build project delivery model. Funding and cost certainty were a massive challenge for this project.

The maximum budget that Town had to work with was only $4.2M. To deliver an innovative cost efficient facility, ISL recommended an alternate project delivery method known as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) for the project. This delivery method integrates all stakeholders (owner, consultant, general contractor, major sub consultants) throughout all the phases of the project in a highly collaborative environment. The Town went forward with IPD for this project which was a first for a municipal infrastructure project in North America. This project was also the first in North America to use the CCDC 30 – 2018 Integrated Project Delivery Contract agreement.

The brand new RWPS was designed and delivered using IPD for an all-in cost of $3.7M. The innovative design separated the mechanical and electrical components (out of the flood plain) and utilized submersible well pumps drilled into the side of the stilling basin, eliminating the need for large excavation work. The new RWPS can be fully submerged in a flood situation and still function. It is simple to maintain and operate but it does the job effectively. ISL provide all the Process, Structural, and Civil Engineering services for this project.

Award Winning

On November 4, 2022 The Association of Consulting Engineering Companies of Canada (ACEC) awarded ISL with the Award of Excellence for our work on the Drayton Valley Water Raw Water Pump Station IPD project.

This project could only succeed with early collaboration and innovative thinking that challenged traditional methods. This revolutionary approach required leveraging ISL’s experience, ensuring construction informed design and eliminating the preventable adversity often seen in traditional project deliveries.

“Being recognized with an ACEC Award of Excellence is among the highest honours an engineering consultant in Canada can achieve – the award highlights our expertise, dedication, innovative thinking, and professionalism while bonding our team to our clients and communities through challenging project work.” – Rod Peacock, P.Eng., President & CEO.