Is It a Road Project or a Water Main Project?

DeKalb County, Georgia, Department of Watershed Management (DWM) initiated a project to replace approximately 40,000 feet of 70-year old water distribution main along a heavily trafficked two-lane road due to repeated failures. The existing 6-inch asbestos cement (AC) pipe was experiencing numerous failures and the road had not been paved for a number of years. Complaints from local residents and businesses increased significantly due to the deteriorating condition of the road, in part exacerbated by the main breaks, and also for the frequent water shut downs. In response, DWM decided to expedite procurement by using the single-step design-build method to install the new water main and repave the entire road, curb to curb with no detailed bridging design documents provided. In addition, this water main serves approximately 2,800 potable water customers and the road serves on average 24,600 vehicles every day. Such a large impact required an extensive public outreach program including community meetings, press releases, social media notifications, and door to door interactions to notify customers. This paper discusses DWM’s and the project team’s experience with the single-step design-build approach with limited bridging documents along with recommendations and lessons learned, which should offer a pathway for utilities and engineers to use single-step design-build to expedite the procurement and installation of significant lengths of small diameter water mains.