Leading with innovation: Haskell navigates environmental challenges during water treatment facility construction. 

Built in 1953, the City Creek Water Treatment Plant (CCWTP) in Salt Lake City has reached the end of its useful life. To address the facility’s age, Haskell is executing a full-scale upgrade, replacing critical infrastructure with state-of-the-art systems designed to handle 16 million gallons per day (MGD) of water. The new conventional water treatment plant will include modernized filtration systems, flocculation, high-rate sedimentation plate settlers, backwash capabilities, and a new clearwell. This project is being executed under the Construction Manager/General Contractor (CM/GC) collaborative delivery model with a $140 million budget allocated for the complete project.

The team’s preconstruction and value engineering efforts create opportunities for efficiency.

Haskell’s early involvement through the preconstruction phase uncovered significant opportunities to enhance efficiency. Our team identified logistical challenges during initial planning that could have resulted in cost overruns. By implementing advanced value engineering methods, we optimized constructability and minimized disruptions. One vital effort involved condensing the new treatment facilities into a single structure, optimizing plant operations and providing a better final design. Additionally, the rerouting of utilities within the plant was defined to maintain plant operations and ensure consistent water treatment during construction.

The project uncovered unique challenges that required innovative solutions.

The plant’s remote location in a steep canyon with an advancing elevation greater than 2,000 feet presents unique challenges. The narrow, single-lane access road is shared with recreational traffic and is prone to heavy snowfall during winter months. Haskell adapted by placing jobsite trailers and staging areas 1.5 miles down the canyon. Additionally, our team developed cost-effective solutions that maintained plant operations throughout the project, ensuring safety and compliance with environmental regulations.

The disaster-hardened infrastructure is designed to withstand extreme environments.

As part of Salt Lake City’s broader effort to mitigate risks posed by natural disasters, the upgraded CCWTP is designed to withstand extreme events. The facility is engineered to return to service immediately after a 2,475-year earthquake, a 100-year wind event or a 500-year flood. This disaster-hardened approach ensures the security of the city’s water supply and was critical in earning the City a FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure in our Communities (BRIC) grant to help fund the project’s construction.

Energy efficiency and sustainability are at the center of the project’s design.

Throughout the project, Haskell is focused on integrating energy-efficient components that align with Salt Lake City’s sustainability goals. The upgraded plant will feature cutting-edge water treatment technologies that reduce energy consumption while improving operational performance. Also, Haskell is committed to minimizing the project’s environmental footprint through effective waste management, with over 90% of construction waste diverted from landfills. These are essential factors in the new facility achieving an ENVISION Gold Certification.