Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Water topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Regional surface water project wins national design‑build award; city staff cite cost controls and safety record
Summary
Selena Estrada told council the Regional Surface Water Supply Project received a national Design‑Build Institute of America Award of Merit and summarized the project’s budget, schedule and safety performance.
Selena Estrada, plant manager for the city’s water treatment operation, told the Turlock City Council the regional surface water supply project (SRWA) received a national Award of Merit from the Design‑Build Institute of America (DBIA).
“We received a prestigious award…a national award of merit,” Estrada said, describing DBIA’s emphasis on collaboration, efficiency and innovation under the design‑build method.
Estrada and other staff relayed project metrics presented to council: a final contract amount of $197,255,475; primary funding of roughly $185,000,000 in low‑interest loans from the state revolving fund; and about $38,000,000 in grant awards. She said the project took about 42 months from start to finish, generated roughly 640,746 construction hours, and recorded 55 change orders that she said comprised about 80.85% of the final contract amount. On safety, staff reported a total recordable incident rate of 0.94 (industry average cited as about 3.9) and a DART (days away, restricted or transferred) rate of 0.31 (industry average cited as about 22.1).
Estrada and other staff credited the design‑build approach and on‑site leadership—singling out the plant manager and the city’s project partners—for helping to manage supply‑chain interruptions and keep the project on track. Project participants listed in the presentation included Jacobs Engineering (design), Overa Construction (prime contractor), Mountain Cascade and San Joaquin Electric (major subcontractors), ICM and West Coast (construction management) and the cities of Turlock and Ceres as project partners.
City staff said the project used a portion of contingency (about 15% of the original contingency was spent on change orders) and noted that the design‑build structure helped limit delay and cost escalation during COVID‑era supply‑chain disruptions.
Why it matters: the SRWA provides regional surface water treatment capacity to local utilities. The award recognizes project delivery and signals to stakeholders that the project met national design‑build standards for schedule, safety and owner engagement.
Source and context: statements and figures were presented directly by Selena Estrada and city staff during the presentations segment.
