The Quiet Before Construction

Snow falls on West Parish Filters in December 2024 (view from Granville Road)

Don’t let these scenes of snowy stillness from earlier in December fool you. As we enter the mobilization phase for construction, there’s a flurry of site preparation and construction planning going on behind the scenes.

The construction superintendent and field engineers are on site, developing work plans, directing deliveries, and meeting with sub-contractors. Surveyors have been hard at work performing layout. The utility location subcontractor will mobilize soon to verify underground utilities. And Commission staff are meeting regularly with contractors to ensure treatment operations are able to continue smoothly during construction.

Hazen and Sawyer designed the plant and are overseeing construction. Hazen’s on-site Construction Manager Chris Brosseau said there are peaceful moments like spotting a bald eagle over the Cobble Mountain reservoir, but that'll change soon enough.

“For a construction guy, it looks like there’s not much going on,” he said. “But my message to everybody is: Buckle up. Because once heavy equipment, material, and fabrications arrive, demolition and construction will ramp up quickly."

As you can imagine, protecting sensitive environmental features at our main drinking water source is a critical step as we prepare the site for construction. In November, local contractors installed erosion control fencing to safeguard Cook Brook and surrounding wetlands from construction runoff. They also installed stone tracking pads as a temporary roadway for moving personnel, trucks, and heavy equipment through the site.

On-site work trailers for Walsh Construction, who will be building the plant

Maybe the most visible activity is where mobile trailers have been installed on-site and connected to generators. They're all skirted for a more permanent appearance since they will be the official construction offices for the next four years, or 51 months, to be exact.

The growing trailer village includes several cargo containers that will serve as construction storage units, plus some heavy equipment--a wheel loader and an excavator. Temporary fence panels have been erected at Gate 5 and around our contractor HQ to protect the public, pedestrians and vehicular traffic.

As this compound takes shape, it reminds us of the worker housing that popped up on this site a century ago. Stay tuned for a look back at how those workers lived on-site during construction!