Barnard Construction and Parsons Water and Infrastructure are constructing a 16,000-acre reservoir for the South Florida Water Management District.

Premier Business Partners:

Musco Lighting Allied Engineering CR Dunn

Florida’s largest environmental restoration project requires the resources of two of the nation’s heavy hitters in construction: Bozeman, Mont.-based Barnard Construction and Pasadena, Calif.-based Parsons Water and Infrastructure.     

Together, the firms are constructing a 16,000-acre reservoir for the South Florida Water Management District, Project Manager Neil VanAmburg says.

Barnard Construction is responsible for approximately 70 percent of the project, which includes all earthwork, excavations and the embankment of the reservoir. The reservoir will contain approximately 61.9 billion gallons of water at 12 feet deep. Once it is completed, the reservoir will be one of the largest of its kind, VanAmburg adds. Parsons is performing the highway work, and constructing the gated structures and pump station.

The project broke ground in August 2006, and is set for completion by late December 2010. “To date, we are ahead of schedule and under budget,” VanAmburg asserts. “This  project is utilizing a construction manager at risk [CMR] delivery system which requires negotiation in phases. In the first phase, we negotiated a guaranteed maximum price [GMP].

“Today, we’re working through the negotiation known as GMP 4, for the final earthwork phase to construct the embankment.”

Staying on Budget
The project’s open-book approach offers transparency in budget negotiations, but comes with challenges for documentation, as well.

“Once we agree on a price, the project becomes a cost reimbursement situation up to the maximum price agreed upon,” VanAmburg says.

Even though the firms must carry great risk during the project, the resources both companies can draw upon have pushed the project through challenges and difficulties. “Parsons is an international company with huge resources,” VanAmburg says. “The working relationship between the two companies has been great, and the project has been running very smoothly.”

To date, the firms have self-performed the majority of the work, but the project is now entering a phases utilizing subcontractors. The team’s strategy moving forward is to enlist as many local subcontractors as possible.

“This is our driving goal right now,” VanAmburg says. “We established a public involvement program which is basically our major outreach effort.

“We work with local colleges and work forces development or training programs to make sure that we’re giving opportunities and maximizing the participation of all local resources.  So far, about 70 percent of our work force are local hires from the area.”

‘World-Class Project’
Employees are excited to be involved in this high-profile project, according to VanAmburg. “We’re making history here,” he says. “It’s exciting for all of us to be part of this world-class project. We have a culture on the job site that motivates workers to do the job right the first time.”

Employees operate in a safe work environment due to ongoing training initiatives. On-site safety representatives train both veteran employees and new hires on a regular basis to ensure productivity does not come at the expense of safety.

The safety record on the job site is strong, reinforced by an incentive program that rewards workers for their dedication. “We give out cash every 40,000 hours where there is no recordable incident,” VanAmburg explains. “So far, we’ve offered this bonus 11 times.”

Work Force Retention
While the majority of the industry is suffering from a shortage in qualified labor, Barnard has not been affected. “We’re almost an anomaly here,” VanAmburg says.

“Here in this area, there is a lot of work force available. In fact, we have over 3,000 applications on file right now. Finding employees is not a problem, but finding people with the right expertise is always a challenge.”

Training Efforts
The company works closely with new hires to ensure they become the skilled laborers the industry needs. “We continue to intensely train our employees on an ongoing basis,” VanAmburg says.

“So far, we’ve been very fortunate to have the employees that we do. We are looking forward to continue working in this joint venture and maintain the success we’ve found so far.”