The ACEC OKLAHOMA Engineering Excellence Awards was a spirited competition for 2010 Awards.  There were four entries, and all were excellent presentations and close in the final judging.

The 2010 ACEC OKLAHOMA Grand Conceptor Award was awarded to Garver for the City of Norman "Reclaiming Water and Revenue Project."

The City of Norman, as well as a number of other central Oklahoma municipalities, depends on groundwater for their public water supply.  In 2006, the EPA lowered the maximum contaminant levels for arsenic in drinking water from 50 to 10 parts per billion, forcing cities to remove wells from service and provide public health notices.  For Norman, this translated into the loss of nearly 50% of the city’s well field, adding stresses to the city’s Surface Water Treatment Plant, and requiring the purchase of expensive treated water from a neighboring community.

Taking a proactive approach, Norman officials piloted a wellhead arsenic removal system on Well #31 which was one of the wells which tested above 40 parts per billion of arsenic.

Garver provided engineering, regulatory assistance, system start-up and project reporting, the firm worked with the city and DEQ to debut the SORB 33 Arsenic Removal System in Oklahoma.

Throughout the year-long demonstration project, the adsorption system successfully removed arsenic from Well #31 and provided product water with arsenic levels safely below 10 parts per billion.  As an added bonus, nearly 75 million gallons of drinking water were produced during the demonstration, generating approximately $155,000 in revenue for the city which helped offset the piloting costs for the demonstration project.

The pilot project showed that the cost of this arsenic system is a competitive way to produce finished water, especially when comparing it to the cost of expanding conventional surface water treatment plants, drilling new wells, or buying finished water from other municipalities.  Currently, the city is making provisions to convert the demonstration project to permanent infrastructure at Well #31, and are also pursuing opportunities for collective treatment at other locations within the distribution system.

The first of three "Honor Awards" was presented to C P & Y for their "Efficient OZONE Generation" project at Oklahoma City’s Hefner Water Treatment plant.  Over the years the plant had  struggled to produce maximum amounts of ozone gas from it’s aging generation system during peak summer months.  Generators were running at maximum capacity year round with no redundancy to meet treated water demands and the existing system was prone to breakdowns and frequently operated at half capacity. 

In the midst of a major plant expansion, the City realized ozone capacity would soon become a critical variable.  The goal was to design and reliable, efficient, and economical system.  A combination of Intelligent Gap System (IGS) dielectric components along with a Liquid Oxygen (LOX) based feed source for the generation of ozone provided the most innovative and environmentally friendly solution.  This enabled the plant to generate enough ozone to successfully treat up to 2.5 times more water than the current capacity.

Through creative engineering and construction scheduling, the project was completed with zero disruptions.  The project was designed and implemented utilizing a parallel construction methodology where additions were installed and all preparatory work was completed in advance of connection allowing for minimum downtime.

Since the startup in April, 2010, there have been no interruptions in ozone delivery while at the same time using 40% less electricity.

Garver was also a recipient of an "Honor Award" for the City of Mustang's "Water Treatment Plant Upgrade." 

The City was under a Department of Environmental Quality Consent Order to meet water quality targets which required the financially strapped city to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant as well as to double the plant’s efficiency and capacity to meet future growth demands on the city.

Working together, Garver and the city tackled this major capital expense by designing the project in two phases, separating them by 10 years, and utilizing government funding sources. 

Garver worked with DEQ to develop a two-phased project that would bring the plant into compliance and ultimately expand the facility to meet a 20-year build-out flow rate by 2017.  Using a phased approach enabled the city to build the infrastructure necessary to treat 10 years worth of future wastewater flow now rather than tackling a full 20 years in one project.  This approach also cut the improvement expenses into two manageable costs.

After construction bids came in under the original costs estimates, the two-phased approach again proved financially beneficial as the city was able to incorporate some of the Phase 2 infrastructure into Phase 1 at no additional cost.

While the project was not “shovel ready” at the time of the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the firm worked with DEQ and the Oklahoma Water Resources Board to ensure the project would meet ARRA requirements.  Additionally, the project was funded through a 20-year loan from the Clean Water Revolving Fund, which forgave $2 million in debt through the program.  According to the OWRB, this funding saved the rate payers in Mustang $4.7 million.

Cobb Engineering Company also received an "Honor Award" for the "Interstate 35 Widen & Overlay" project in Norman. 

Interstate 35 travels from Laredo, TX to Minneapolis, MN, stretching out 1,568 miles.  Some sections of 1-35 in Oklahoma City were constructed in 1953, and the section of I-35 through Norman was opened in 1959. 

Oklahoma commuters were bracing for the worst when it came to the 4.5 mile widening and overlay from Indian Hills Road to Main Street through Norman, which also included a three-span pre-stressed concrete beam bridge on US-77 over I-35.  Because I-35 is an urban highway known to bottle neck through Norman, everyone concerned expected slowdown, traffic safety issues, and a long construction schedule for this project.

Public involvement was critical to the success of the project.  Public meetings using a visual presentation which included a 3-D graphical representation of the proposed construction in Google Earth as well as 3-D cross section renderings enabled the public to visually see the improvements that would take place, and made the overall concept easier for the media and public to understand.

Throughout the project, Cobb Engineering, ODOT, and the contractor were able to successfully maintain two open lanes of traffic, which resulted in minimal traffic accidents due to construction and general overall public support.

The project was completed 6 months ahead of schedule, and in the end, the State of Oklahoma was rewarded with a safe, reliable interstate system that handles a high volume of traffic and allows for future expansion.

Congratulations to all of our award recipients!  Information for the 2011 ACEC OKLAHOMA Engineering Excellence Awards competition will come out in September, and we urge all member firms to begin planning now for the 2011 competition.