Projects

Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant

Expanding the largest wastewater treatment facility serving New York City while satisfying federal and state consent order conditions.

The new Kingsland Avenue gate is a beautiful steel and glass pane structure with tree lined entry.
Safety was key when installing an odor control stack and maintaining operations at the same time.
Yard piping collects runoff during wet weather between thickeners and residual building.
Our team skillfully handled working on the large-scale project in this crowded, urban setting.
The 11 truck garage on the northeast side of the facility allows for safe access.

Client

New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP)

Partner(s)

Shaw/Baker/Gannett Fleming Joint Venture

Location

Brooklyn, New York

Our Role

Construction Management.

Data

Size: 310 mgd water pollution control plant (700 mgd in wet weather)
Construction Cost: $1.5 billion
Type: New Construction
Duration: 10 years

Outcomes

Improving processing capacity of the plant to better serve the community's needs
Strengthened regulatory compliance through permitting and regulation reviews.

The Newtown Creek Wastewater Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) was completed in 1967 with a capacity of 310 mgd. It is the largest of NYCDEP’s 14 WPCPs and serves a population of approximately 1.06 million. It has a drainage area of 15,656 acres including the south and eastern midtown sections of Manhattan, northeast section of Brooklyn and western section of Queens. The plant discharges to the East River. Digested sludge is pumped to a storage tank and then is pumped to marine vessels for transport and dewatering at the Hunts Point WPCP in the Bronx.

The WPCP is undergoing a major, long-term upgrade that began in 1999. Under a consent order from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, several construction and operational consent order deadlines must be met during this contract term. If not met, the NYCDEP, the facility owner, would be subject to onerous fines and penalties reaching as high as $10,000 per day. Treatment and processing facilities are being constructed and existing facilities are being demolished or modified with the goal that plant operations be maintained throughout construction.

What We Did

Gannett Fleming is providing comprehensive construction management services for 14 (4 multiprime projects) construction contracts to upgrade the Newtown Creek WPCP. Work involves upgrades to the central residuals building and the Newtown Creek sludge barging facilities; modifications to the main building’s northwest wing; and reconstruction of the Kingsland Avenue, South Battery, and South Control buildings. Our firm is taking special care to integrate the new and upgraded facilities with the existing facilities at the Newtown Creek WPCP so that there is minimal to no effect to existing plant processes and to protect against interruption of treatment operations.

Reaching the secondary treatment milestone ahead of schedule resulted in release to the NYCDEP of $20 million held in escrow by regulatory agencies. Gannett Fleming's use of the Primavera Contract Manager and Primavera P6 to organize and manage project information provides 24-7 Web-based access to project information for nearly all project stakeholders. Gannett Fleming facilitated a contractor workshop to develop quicker resolutions to issues during construction and improve overall project schedule performance. As a result of the workshop, the schedule was improved by 60 days and the project is on schedule and below budget. More than $400 million have been returned to the City from the original budget, and there have been no forced change orders. All contracts are on target to finish ahead of schedule.

Key Features

Administration and construction management
Permits and regulatory compliance review
Community and public participation
As-built drawing and constructability review
Resident engineering and inspection services
Health and safety enforcement
Project operations services
Change order control and management.

Awards & Recognition

Project of the Year Award: Public Works, 2018, Construction Management Association of America New York/New Jersey Chapter, Project of the Year Awards.

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