Carollo provided third-party construction manage¬ment services for an upgrade of the City of Santa Cruz, California, Wastewater Treatment Plant at Neary Lagoon. The project enables Santa Cruz to meet the most stringent federal and state guidelines for wastewater treatment. The project upgraded ad¬vanced primary treatment processes to full secondary treatment, allowing discharge of up to 18 mgd of treated effluent into the open Pacific Ocean cur¬rents two miles offshore. The treated wastewater is discharged through an existing outfall pipe extending along the ocean floor in 110 feet of water.
The work on this $50 million project included a pile-supported digester; a drilled pier-supported, 6-mgd interstage pumping station; six trickling filters; three solids contact (aeration) tanks; three pile-supported secondary clarifiers; an equipment gallery with aera¬tion blowers; an odor reduction facility; a pile-supported power generation building; administrative offices and laboratory facilities; an effluent filtration facility for in-plant use of effluent; and an ultraviolet disinfection facility.

Throughout the construction period, a concerted partnering effort among the owner, design engineer, construction manager, and contractor resulted in the amicable resolution of over $2 million in potential claims. Carollo’s field staff included a half-time con¬struction manager, a full-time resident engineer, and a lead inspector. We also provided specialty electrical and instrumentation inspectors and an administra¬tive assistant. The proximity of the Santa Cruz Wastewater Treatment Plant to protected wetlands and the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary presented some special challenges to Carollo’s construction management effort.
The environmentally sensitive nature of the surrounding area, which includes the protected wetlands to the north and the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary to the south, presented some special challenges to the construction management effort. Strict noise restrictions dictated the construction of a sound barrier along Neary Lagoon to protect mating waterfowl.
In addition to environmental considerations, the project included state-of-the-art equipment and software to track and store documents. The con¬struction management team used Expedition soft¬ware to manage submittals, requests for information, change orders, correspondence, and all other related documents. Serving as the third-party construction manager, Carollo helped the City of Santa Cruz amicably resolve over $2 million in potential claims through a concerted partnering effort. The proximity of the Santa Cruz Wastewater Treatment Plant to protected wetlands and the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary presented some special challenges to Carollo’s construction management effort.