McCarthy nabs $215M Sioux Falls water plant expansion

Award: Sioux Falls Regional Water Reclamation Plant expansion
Value: $215 million
Location: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Client: City of Sioux Falls

The City of Sioux Falls officials selected McCarthy Building Cos. as the construction manager at-risk for the $215 million expansion of its regional water reclamation plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, according to a press release.

The expansion will increase the facility’s capacity by 50% to 30 million gallons per day and enhance operational efficiencies to meet growing demand in the region. The project will also position the plant to align with upcoming regulatory requirements, according to the release.

Improvements to the facility will include the following:

Construction of a new three-story building, where wastewater initially enters the treatment process.
Installation of new generators at the existing plant, which will also undergo an extensive electrical system upgrade.
Installation of three additional aeration basins where wastewater is treated by microbes, as well as four final clarifiers. These are large circular pools where solids separate from treated water.
Expansion of an area of the plant where water is treated with chlorine, including the addition of more storage tanks.

In addition to moving 27,000 cubic yards of dirt to prepare for construction, project teams have already placed the first 5,000 cubic yards of the 16,000 cubic yards of concrete needed and installed the first two miles of the planned eight miles of underground piping.

Additional site preparation included the installation of temporary electrical power lines for the blower building, lime feed silos and other work, according to the release.

“Sioux Falls and the surrounding area are experiencing tremendous population growth, which means critical infrastructure like the Sioux Falls Reclamation Plant needs to grow with it,” said Mark Perry, wastewater superintendent for the City of Sioux Falls, in the release.

In addition to McCarthy, project partners include Walnut Creek, California-based Carollo Engineers and Henry Carlson Construction of Sioux Falls.

The Construction Manager at Risk project delivery method ensures firm pricing and alignment of scope and budget throughout the project, and allows for earlier bid packages for procurement to help mitigate ongoing supply chain and cost escalation risks, McCarthy said.

Site preparation began in fall 2021 and notice to proceed for the main project was effective as of July 2022. The St. Louis-based contractor expects construction to be completed by 2025.