The City of Box Elder and Ellsworth Air Force Base (EAFB) built a joint wastewater treatment facility in July 2014. The $16 million project is expected to be a cost saver for both the city and the base, which needs to upgrade its existing facilities. EAFB and the City of Box Elder evenly split the cost of the facility, but the facility is owned by the state and overseen by the South Dakota Ellsworth Development Authority (SDEDA). Developed in 2009, SDEDA helps protect the base from closure. The new facility handles three million gallons of wastewater a day and officially became operational in July 2014. The construction portion of the project included construction of influent parshall flume; process building with fine screening, pumping, sludge dewatering, blowers and electrical equipment; grit removal structure; sequencing batch reactor (SBR) structure; administration building with laboratory, offices, break room, and garage; UV disinfection structure and pressate lift station. It also included installation of preselected SBR equipment, site work, yard piping, and electrical and mechanical system work associated with the improvements.
PSI provided resident project representative (RPR) and will provide operations and maintenance services for the SDEDA Wastewater Treatment Plant when it becomes operational. The new facility is an activated sludge plant with sequence batch reactors; PSI will staff five operators for the operation and maintenance portion of the contract. The RPR assisted SDEDA’s consultant in observing progress and work quality. Duties and responsibilities of the RPR include:
- Review project schedules and interpret contract documents
- Attend conferences and meetings and prepare and distribute minutes
- Serve as the owner’s liaison with the consultant
- Manage shop drawings and samples
- Review on-site work progress and report unsatisfactory, faulty or defective work to consultant; accompany visiting agency inspectors and record inspection results
- Consider and evaluate contractor suggestions for modifications
- Maintain project records including on-site files, job diary and contractor, subcontractors and suppliers contact information
- Furnish periodic reports including change orders and accident reports
- Review payment requests
- Verify that consultant certificates, manuals and other documents are in place and up-to-date
- Conduct final inspection and prepare list of items to be completed or corrected prior to project completion