City of Billings Nutrient Upgrade, Expansion and Improvements

One of Billings' largest public works projects in history, the Nutrient Improvements, Expansion and Improvements' original new secondary
treatment facilities concept was projected to cost $250 million. During project planning, a new concept emerged — reuse the existing secondary treatment basins for nutrient reduction bioreactors and construct new secondary clarifiers — reducing the cost to approximately $65 million. When modeling and analyses indicated insufficient basin volume, the team increased the existing secondary clarifier wall height 3.5 feet and stiffened aeration basin walls, which Please explain why you think this project should receive an award? provided volume for the new treatment process. Further, by housing blowers in the secondary treatment complex tunnel, the old blower room turned into chemical storage and feed facilities, eliminating the need for a new building while saving resources and costs. Innovative sequencing overcame the challenging construction and facilitated continued wastewater treatment throughout. By LIDAR scanning existing facilities and combining outputs with building information modeling, a 3D design visualized the improvements and reduced change orders. The new biological process reduces nitrogen and phosphorus. It avoids expensive chemical use and dewatering and disposing chemical sludge. The result, the City met nitrogen and phosphorus limits the first month their permit became effective and continues to meet the limits.