Call Lake water-supply project moves into commissioning; two pipeline crossings remain and high-service pump station needs remediation

Jason, a city staff member overseeing the Call Lake water-supply program update, told the Mayor and Board of Commissioners the program has moved into portions of startup and commissioning and that most major infrastructure is near completion. “Currently where we are today…we've transitioned into portions of the startup and the commissioning phase,” Jason said.

Jason gave progress percentages for the project’s major elements: the raw-water intake structure (about 94.5% complete as shown in contractor reporting), the 70-mile cross‑country raw-water pipeline (most segments pressure-tested; overall pipeline work reported at 99.7%), the intermediate booster pump station (about 99.7%), the Greenfield Water Treatment Plant (about 92.5%) and the Chestnut distribution main (about 99.8%). He said the project team is waiting for an upsized 36-inch flow meter at the intake and that two pipeline segments—within pipeline segments 6 and 7—still require pressure testing and open-cut interconnect work.

On recent construction milestones, Jason said the Arkansas East horizontal directional drill (HDD) crossing was successfully completed on Dec. 14, and crews had recently finished the difficult Bodark Creek (tunnel) crossing after encountering rock and poor soils that required an excavation-assisted approach before casing and carrier pipe installation could be completed. He described cathodic protection systems—18 rectifier systems—installed along the pipeline and noted crews will complete additional polarization testing as final connections are finished.

Chestnut Avenue was fully installed and pressure-tested and was awaiting final disinfection pending high-service pump-station start-up, Jason said, adding that some plant startup activities remain manual for now and Garver (the engineer) will lead automation handoff once manual startups are complete. “Once all things are go, all operations are checked out and everything's ready, we'll initiate that more than likely once the pipeline segments are tied in,” Jason said.

Jason flagged a settlement issue at the high-service pump station area that has delayed startup: geotechnical and engineering teams are working to define the root cause and a remedy. “For lack of better words, it's almost like a stack of dominoes that everything went down on the bottom and consolidated,” he said, describing the investigation and the need for corrective work before final commercial startup.

Jason reported the project’s guaranteed maximum price through change order 7 at about $256.8 million and reiterated key near-term items the team must complete: final interconnect work and pressure testing on the remaining pipeline segments, installation of the intake flow meter and final disinfection and startup of the treatment and distribution systems. He said the contractor (Garney) and the city’s engineer (Garver) have distinct responsibilities for manual and automation startups and noted the city separately contracts site security and oxygen (LOX) equipment supply for the treatment plant.

On schedule, Jason said the GMP change order 7 shows substantial completion by Sept. 11, 2025, and projected laboratory availability in summer 2025, though he added the high-service pump-station remedy could push some items into summer if the required corrective work proves extensive. Commissioners and residents asked clarifying questions about cathodic protection, tunneling work and visible restoration along Chestnut Avenue; one resident commended the crew’s Chestnut restoration work, and Jason and commissioners accepted the compliment.

Jason closed by saying the principal focus remains resolving the high-service pump-station issue, completing the two outstanding pipeline tie-ins and finishing commissioning and automation handoff so operations can begin.