Review aims to keep lid on cost of sewage plant overhaul

The City of Winnipeg will explore whether it can find savings, and otherwise aim to keep its budget in check, while building the next phase of its most expensive infrastructure project.

A request for proposals seeks a consultant to conduct a third-party “cost estimate peer review” of Phase 2 of the $3-billion upgrade to the north end sewage treatment plant.

The biosolids facilities project is expected to add much-needed sewage treatment capacity at an estimated cost of $1.035 billion.

Coun Ross Eadie, chairman of council’s water and waste committee, said the winning bidder isn’t expected to come up with a new budget estimate, but to explore whether there are ways the city can make the project more efficient after work begins.

“What they’re looking for are cost efficiencies, so maybe they’ll (make changes) and there might be some savings,” said Eadie (Mynarski). “The budget is the budget… and we want to come under budget, if possible.”

The councillor said there’s no set savings target to achieve, but the review is important for a project this large and complicated.

Cynthia Wiebe, the manager of engineering services for Winnipeg water and waste, said the winning bidder will do “spot checks” on key details of the project.

“They would look for… benchmarks of other recent comparable projects. So, for example (on) …the amount of labour hours required to install a unit of concrete and (check if we are) comparable to that. Every project is a bit different but if, suddenly, you’re triple (the usual cost), it just makes you pause and look at the rest of the estimate a little bit deeper,” said Wiebe.

She said the consultant will closely examine material, equipment and labour costs.

“The key goal is really to make sure that, as we move forward, we don’t want to be surprised by a cost at the end… It’s important for us and for the citizens of Winnipeg that we have an accurate cost estimate,” said Wiebe.

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She said this type of review is a best practice for infrastructure projects this large and doesn’t represent a new step for the city.

The biosolids project is needed to treat sludge from the city’s three sewage treatment plants and increase sewage capacity.

The city has set aside $180,000 for the review and intends to award the contract by Sept. 16.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.