ACEC Texas Honors Construction Management of Extensive Dallas Treatment Upgrades

Representatives at the ACEC Texas Engineering Excellence Awards Gala: Wayne Swafford, ACEC Texas; Marc Cottingame, Dallas Water Utilities; Freese and Nichols’ Dustin Pope and Adam Payne; and Jonathan Tran, TEC Consulting.

This project received a Silver Medal from ACEC Texas in the 2025 Engineering Excellence Awards.

Systemwide improvements across Dallas Water Utilities’ treatment plants program involving more than 24 water quality projects was recognized with an ACEC Silver Medal during the 2025 Engineering Excellence Awards. Freese and Nichols served as DWU’s construction manager for the improvements, which ranged from renovation of existing storage facilities and pump stations to a newly constructed treatment facility at three water treatment plants (East Side, Elm Fork and Bachman).

Working hand-in-hand with DWU, our team managed four major program tasks:

  • Constructability and design review support for shutdowns and restrictions

  • Program construction management

  • Standardization and training of construction management and owner project teams

  • Operations and maintenance commissioning and startup assistance

Our team’s collaborative approach to this extensive program consistently achieved goals across dozens of projects. Benefits and enhancements included:

The program included more than 24 water quality improvement projects completed over a five-year period.

  • Use of e-Builder for storing and processing extensive program information allowed for smooth administration, communication and planning across more than 24 projects

  • Creation of a construction management manual served as the foundation for extensive but consistent training and standards

  • Development of a comprehensive, organization-wide training program increased communication, buy-in and long-term resiliency of DWU’s water infrastructure management program

  • Better collaboration and synchronization among city departments, such as Pumping and Distribution, resulted in enhanced performance at DWU facilities

  • Cost-saving negotiations resulted in approximately 5% savings across the life of the program

Managing project complexities

Activities such as a team cookout helped collaboration by building camaraderie.

At the project’s start in 2019, the team faced numerous initial complexities, including rapid onboarding, process/procedure tracking, and considerable stakeholder communication and management. New training initiatives, after-action reviews and staff events (such as cookouts to build camaraderie) helped navigate challenges and enhance relations with an extensive list of stakeholders.

Effective tools included e-Builder, a project management information system, which was used to process, store and disseminate key information, and a program standards manual that covered project administration, contract administration, communication and reporting, documentation, regulatory requirements, site visits, risk management and dispute resolution strategies.

Creating a new construction management manual fostered cross-department collaboration by providing procedures that applied across all of DWU’s water facilities and covered all staff roles. It served as the foundation for extensive training meetings from the field to the office, including procurement, legal and executive leadership, provided mutual understanding and increased programwide accountability and buy-in.

Putting the data into a more hands-on format, standardizing front-end documents and using e-Builder for distribution and application by inspectors, field personnel, and construction and project managers created task consistency and bolstered DWU’s institutional knowledge for these projects and beyond.

Workshops and training aligned with client goals

As an extension of the construction management manual, our team used a workshop environment to bring together all key stakeholders and determine the best delivery method for each project. We also customized a comprehensive training program aligned with the city’s goals to develop and coach their project team.

The two-part series — Factory Witness Testing for Pumps and Valves, followed by Electrical, SCADA and Controls — extended training to all levels, even inspectors who had not been included before. These efforts were key to increased communication, buy-in and long-term resiliency of DWU’s water infrastructure management program.

Our team also “quarterbacked” many meetings between contractors, plant staff and the Pumping and Distribution departments, including preparing for shutdowns and troubleshooting “what if” scenarios.

These training efforts, along with quarterly executive-level reporting and an annual self-audit:

The work across DWU water treatment facilities has improved operational efficiency and water service distribution to the city’s 2.3 million customers.

  • Resulted in better performance for services delivered to DWU

  • Offered additional cross-collaboration and team-building opportunities

  • Reinforced the newly developed construction management manual

Delivering results for the community

The work has enhanced DWU’s ability to efficiently provide water to more than 2 million customers across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Increasing the system’s resilience keeps the city ahead of future demands to serve a growing population.

By training staff at every level and implementing processes and systems to serve Dallas’ water infrastructure as a whole, this project has contributed to the ongoing public safety and welfare of water service across the region, on both a regular basis and during emergency weather scenarios.