I am very grateful to my good friend and colleague Sahana Singh, Editor of  Asian Water for pointing me though Facebook to the Be Inspired Innovations in Infrastructure conference in Amsterdam. Bentley System, world leader in engineering software for information modelling through integrated projects for intelligent infrastructure organised it. I joined the Media day on 12 November and listened to four finalists presenting their projects and innovations in Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants on 13 November 2012.

 This category featured projects that demonstrate the innovative use of technology to plan, design, manage, model, and construct water and wastewater treatment plants.

These projects were chosen by an independent jury of industry experts and thought leaders for their unique approach and application of technology, as they address the most critical issues of sustaining infrastructure.

Innovation winner: Carollo Engineers, Inc.
South Secondary Improvements Project
Denver, Colorado, United States

The Metro Wastewater Reclamation District in Denver, Colo., is modifying and upgrading the South Secondary Treatment facilities to treat 114 million gallons of wastewater per day. The USD 136 million project had to be completed within the state-mandated compliance schedule, requiring the contractor to place approximately 75,000 cubic yards of concrete and install the major electrical, mechanical, and instrumentation equipment in the first 2.5 years. Carollo Engineers used MicroStation, Bentley Navigator, ProjectWise, and InRoads to link 12,154 activities from the contractor’s Primavera P6 baseline schedule with the 3D model to create a 4D visualization. Many benefits ar being achieved so far, including  an estimated 60 workdays saved.

Common goals of water resource professionals include increasing efficiencies in engineering processes while minimizing environmental consequences, preserving public capital investment, and enhancing the level of service of costly but necessary water infrastructure.