Inspired Innovation: PMCM for a $2.5 Billion Pipeline

The Integrated Pipeline (IPL) program is a large complex multiphase and multidecade project to expand water capacity in the Dallas-Fort Worth area by an additional 350 MGD.

The goal of the $2.5 billion transmission system, jointly owned by the Tarrant Regional Water District and the City of Dallas, is a 100-year service life. Collectively, the system consists of 150 miles of pipeline, a 5-mile tunnel, six pump stations, one balancing reservoir and ancillary facilities.

Freese and Nichols serves as the full-time construction management and resident representative for the entire program, with team members embedded in the owner’s project team from the program management office to the inspector on the side of the trench.

Our program management team, working as an extension of staff, developed a Project Management Information System for use by all parties involved in the program, including design firms and construction contractors. Communications, controls, and cathodic protections systems were particularly challenging since these systems must work together even though constructed by different contractors.

To provide for consistency in these systems, Freese and Nichols provided design for three reservoirs, a 2-mile experimental section of pipe and the preliminary design for Section 16.

Freese and Nichols was one of the main engineering firms that developed the standard details and specifications for the program, and the contract documents for the program and TRWD.

See more innovative projects in our 2019 Innovation Report.