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The King County Division of Wastewater Treatment has chosen Kiewit Infrastructure West as the general contractor and construction manager for its $400 million Elliott West Wet Treatment Station project in Seattle.
While the construction contract for the work will be negotiated later, the agency took a step forward by signing a $5.5 million preconstruction contract with Kiewit, agency spokeswoman Akiko Oda said in an email.
Elliott West, a combined sewer overflow facility completed in 2005, stores and treats sewage and stormwater during periods of heavy rainfall, according to the project’s website. Now the the treatment station must be improved to meet stricter environmental regulations, meet the demands of a growing population and cope with a changing climate.
The total cost of the project is currently estimated at $400 million to $450 million, while construction costs are expected to be approximately $220 million, Oda said.
This isn’t King County’s only effort — it’s in the next decade invest $10 billion in wastewater treatment and other resilience measures to reduce pollution in waterways and prepare for storms, which are likely to become more frequent and intense due to climate change. The county has 14 water infrastructure projects planned to make its system more reliable and protect Puget Sound.
Seattle joins a number of other communities across the country that are investing billions to modernize its combined sewer infrastructure, which can release untreated wastewater into water bodies when the system is overwhelmed. The Elliott West project will reduce untreated combined sewer overflow discharge and improve water quality in Elliott Bay, according to the project website.
Once the project is complete, Elliott West will use screening, ballast sedimentation and ultraviolet disinfection, which will allow it to achieve stricter water quality standards. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027 and be completed in 2032, according to the project’s website.
Dallas-based Jacobs is designing the project, according to Oda.
For the pre-construction phase, Omaha, Neb.-based Kiewit’s scope of work includes support in risk management, value engineering, constructability reviews, construction planning, scheduling and cost estimating, per Oda . The scope of works for the construction phase is still under development.
