The Military Engineer l No. 66263 Design & Construction Design-Build in St. Bernard Parish By Col. Bob Davis, P.E., F. SAME, USA (Ret.) The design-build approach was critical to the successful rebuilding of three Katrina- damaged pump stations near New Orleans. T he devastation caused by hur- ricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 sparked an important debate about how our nation executes water resources projects. In Southeast Loui- siana, national, state and local leaders determined that, in order to accom- plish comprehensive risk management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) processes needed to be more adaptable, ?exible and resilient. With the thorough reexamination of processes after 2005, the national pri- oritization for rapid recovery in South- east Louisiana and subsequent funding availability, the USACE New Orleans District and the Hurricane Protection Of?ce embraced the design-build ap- proach to execute critical pump station repairs in St. Bernard Parish. Project Challenges Hurricane Katrina caused exten- sive damage to three pump stations in St. Bernard Parish that operate during storm events to remove stormwater from behind the protective levee system that surrounds the parish. USACE has served as project manager for the expeditious repair of facilities to provide a combined 850,000-gal per minute in pumping ca- pacity. Challenging conditions included poor geotechnical characteristics near the project site, lack of availability of construction resources due to simulta- neous execution of numerous projects in the vicinity, and the need for a system that would provide the desired pump- ing capacity and would operate over a range of conditions. The Lake Borgne Basin Levee District needed to be able to turn on the pumps at high speeds when the water levels in the drainage canals were low in order to accommo- date larger ?ows that would occur as storms gained strength. Design-Build and Source Selection The design-build acquisition method assigns both the facility design and con- struction to a single team. In utility and infrastructure projects, where speed of execution is critical and the perfor- mance requirements are easily articu- lated by the owner, design-build deliv- ery is ideal. USACE procured the St. Bernard Par- ish project in two phases. The Phase 1 requirements focused on the quali?ca- tions, personnel and management plan of the primary design-build team. Phase 1 government guidance included both performance and prescriptive elements from USACE and the Lake Borgne Basin Levee District. Speci?c design criteria were provided for all of the major engi- neering disciplines. The USACE evalu- ation factors for Phase 1 included cur- rent and past performance, experience, Hurricane Katrina caused extensive damage to three pump stations in St. Bernard Parish that operate during storm events to remove stormwater from behind the protective levee system that surrounds the parish. Photo courtesy CDM