Communication, Collaboration Help Manage Operations During Construction

Brent Herring, Deputy Director at KC Water And Jarrek Lucke, Utility Operations Manager at KC Water.

Aging infrastructure on around-the-clock facilities or systems creates a battlegroundfamiliar to every utility.Inevitably – whether replacing a fan motor, upgrading a pipe, or replacing a whole treatment plant–assets need to be fixed or built while continuing the service that the asset provides or supports. It is a constant struggle.

Sometimes it’s easy, especially if there is infrastructure redundancy or if replacement or repair times are short.

Upgrading a wastewater treatment plantto whole new processing technology is another story. That is the challenge we face at KC Water. We are building a thermal hydrolysis process (THP) facility on the same campus as a decades-old plant while continuing to treat nearly 75 million gallons of wastewater a day from more than half a million Kansas City area customers.

How are we managing this nearly two-year transition?

Our first step was to evaluate current operations, starting with the master facilities plan.Utilizing this plan allows prioritization necessary to assure compliance with state and federal environmental  requirements and permits.

Agreeing on How to Collaborate

Once a contractorfor the replacement facility is in placeandthe money is encumbered, what happens next? How dowe continue to operate while simultaneously building anew?

The short version is that before any ground is disturbed, everybody involved must recognizethat operations and construction not only need to co-exist, but also that both must proceed effectively and efficiently.

Design plans must identify current process streams and address whether construction will conflict with daily operations. Meticulous input is needed from operations staff to address process bypass requirements, for example.

The waste stream diversion structure we would need and the process for operational functionsmust be identified and resolvedto also accommodate the construction project, up to and including temporary but secure pipes, pumps and processes.

But short-term conflicts and process changes happen throughout the life of any construction project. To identify and resolve them efficiently, additional communications and coordinated is in place.

Weekly Progress Meetings 

Continuous communications between construction and operations teams is absolutely essential. Having a pulse on the status, upcoming concerns, and future work allowsall to identify and act on unforeseen in operational functionsbeyond previously identified issues.

Some conflicts between operations and construction are not identifiedearly due to the nuances of a particulartreatment process or old infrastructures from other projects.To address new conflicts safely, timeliness within the progress meetings will give engineering the opportunity to find alternative solutions and create change orders to address the new issue andkeep construction on task.

Inevitably, operations and construction will overlap and conflict. When this happens, all parties collaborate through a management platform known as the Operational Change Control Plan (OCCP). This tool has become valuable because it identifies all issues and concerns and enables a mutually beneficial way to document and communicate conflict resolution.

The Contractor sets out the scope of work that needs to occur. Operations will identify treatment processes that will be affected. With strong communication and best engineering practices, construction inevitably will affect unavoidable or unknown operational function. Engineering helps ensure all affected processes are identified and best-practice options presented to accommodate any overlap.

The Key to Communications

KC Water uses Operational Change Control Plans (OCCP)to aligns communications between contractors and operations. The OCCP is a a mutually agreed upon procedure to deal with the overlapping functions.

The OCCPcovers everything from detailed work timelines to mitigating procedures if work problems arise. Once the form has been filled out, both parties utilize a revision and approval process, including a limited sign-off period for any final revisions. Once all revisions or issues are identified, the details specified in the OCCP are scheduled. All parties follow the plan on mutually agreed dates.

The form itself is a work in process. The current version is Version 8 that includes 18 points. Points on the plan include documentary data as simple as Date, OCCP Number, Facility and FacilityID number, and Start Date.More comprehensive points include topics such as Description of Works, Job Hazard Analyses, Water Quality Impacts, and Notification to Stakeholders, among others.

Not every step in the OCCP needs to be taken, but every step must be reviewed and considered before final approval.

Each OCCP step includes key actions. For example, Key Plan Information requires that the parties develop a list of specific actions that must be accomplished, and by whom. The Project Milestones/Execution Steps section provides specific actions and dates by which they must be accomplished.

Balancing the timeliness of construction without hindering process treatment is the objective. The OCCP has been the best pathway for construction, operations, and engineering to create a collaborative process.

Kansas City relies on KC Water staff and contractors we engage to do the upmost to provide the best services possible. Careful advance planning and the OCCP are the best practices we have identified to be as proficient as possible for our customers.

Construction