10.24.19

Wichita Water Partners Delivers Final Estimate to Design and Build the Northwest Water Facility

Project will deliver $14 million in additional savings, providing best value and highest quality for the people of Wichita

WICHITA, Kansas – Wichita Water Partners has delivered to Wichita officials its final, fixed-price budget of $494.2 million for the team to design and build the Northwest Water Facility. The proposed project will replace Wichita’s 80-year-old water treatment facility. The not-to-exceed cost estimate was developed based on extensive input from City staff resulting in important refinements that will benefit both the project and the rate payers of Wichita. If approved, those changes will eliminate the City’s exposure to future construction cost inflation and save the City millions of dollars in capital construction costs.

This submitted price reflects additional cost savings of nearly $14 million compared to the anticipated project cost presented to the City’s steering committee on October 11, 2019. These costs savings along with previously identified savings were achieved through an extensive value engineering and process optimization period that identified and evaluated millions of dollars in potential savings for the City of Wichita.

As part of the City’s proposal requirements, Wichita Water Partners also submitted anticipated operations savings of 26% from the baseline project defined by the City. This savings represents more than $6 million in forecasted annual operations savings, which are expected to total more than $216 million over the 35-year duration of the WIFIA loan period.

Wichita Water Partners, a locally based team with world-class expertise, was selected for the project after a competitive bid process. The team then worked very closely with City staff to make sure the project delivers exactly what the people of Wichita need, on-time and on-budget.

“This project is not only a critical investment in our water infrastructure, but also an investment in the people of Wichita,” says Ron Coker, senior vice president, Burns & McDonnell and project sponsor of Wichita Water Partners. “We have the opportunity to strengthen and build the workforce of Wichita to greatly benefit the families and businesses within this growing community.”

Wichita Water Partners

Wichita Water Partners is built around the national design capability and construction leadership of Burns & McDonnell, Alberici and HDR – supported by strong local design and construction partners. Team members with Wichita Water Partners employ approximately 1,000 people who call Wichita home. Our team is rooted in the Wichita community and is committed to the successful delivery of the Northwest Water Facility and associated economic growth in Wichita.