WCW26

The NEWPCC Upgrade is the largest capital upgrade the City of Winnipeg has ever undertaken, and has been divided into 3 phases, which are currently in different stages of construction, design, and procurement. The second phase is the Biosolids upgrade, which is being delivered as a Progressive Design Build (PDB). The design phase of this Biosolids PDB continues until summer 2026, when construction will begin after. In the PDB model, design development, contract negotiations, and risk transfer are openly discussed between the construction Design Builder (DB) and City, with full open book costing occurring.
In these negotiations it was discovered that the DB was holding significant risk in protecting the existing infrastructure on site.  While the Biosolids Upgrade will be primarily constructed on greenspace with piping tie-ins as necessary, there is an existing wastewater interceptor which traverses through the greenspace to discharge at the headworks of NEWPCC. This monolithic 1500 mm (60”) concrete pipe, tunneled in the late 1970’s that is approximately 13-14m deep through the site, could be less than 10m away from the piling of the future Biosolids buildings. This existing infrastructure impacted how the design was selected, and construction planned to minimize vibrations. Significant risk money had been added into the project to protect this existing infrastructure.
The City team, with guidance from AECOM as their technical advisor, reviewed this risk and found that upgrading the interceptor with a CIPP liner, prior to construction of the Biosolids Upgrade could result in significant savings, and risk mitigation. This was agreed collaboratively with the Biosolids contractor to indeed have significant savings, which then assisting in deciding on next steps.
The lining of the interceptor became a separate project which was started, and completed prior to the finalization of the design phase of the Biosolids Upgrade. Design, bypass pumping, and liner installation occurred during winter 2026.
The outcome of this project allowed a higher vibration limit to be considered during the Biosolids upgrade. This resulted in a modification to the piling design, and constructability, with reduced capital cost and risk.