From Mandate to Milestone: Implementing a Major CSO Program in 7 Years-PPT Presentation

PPT Presentation

Pdf Summary

RiverRenew is Alexandria, Virginia’s largest infrastructure project: a $454.4 million program to reduce combined sewer overflows and protect local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. Its main components include an 11,500-foot tunnel deep beneath the waterfront, drop shafts, an interceptor, and new pumping and treatment facilities. Construction is scheduled from December 2020 to July 2025.<br /><br />The Virginia General Assembly’s 2017 law set an accelerated completion deadline, leaving AlexRenew only a short period to define, procure, and deliver the work. In 2018, the City transferred responsibility for the combined sewer outfalls and RiverRenew to AlexRenew. The program overlapped planning, environmental review, permitting, procurement, design, and construction to make the schedule achievable. Site constraints—including historic neighborhoods, cemeteries, utilities, and limited available land—led AlexRenew to package three major projects together.<br /><br />After industry consultation, AlexRenew selected fixed-price design-build, balancing technical quality and price while assigning a single entity responsibility for design and construction. The contract incorporated measures to manage risk and encourage collaboration, including a dispute resolution board, allowances, a project risk register, and provisions for differing site conditions and pandemic-related impacts.<br /><br />Delivery was further challenged by a federal shutdown, the COVID-19 pandemic, supply-chain disruptions, labor shortages, and the war in Ukraine. The team adapted procurement and meetings to virtual formats and established specific payment items for pandemic-related costs.<br /><br />Because construction takes place in a historic waterfront community with highly engaged residents, outreach was central to planning and continues through meetings, events, tours, digital updates, and public feedback channels. Overall, RiverRenew’s approach combines accelerated scheduling, collaborative delivery, adaptive risk management, and sustained community engagement.

Keywords

RiverRenew

Alexandria Virginia

combined sewer overflows

Chesapeake Bay

infrastructure project

fixed-price design-build

tunnel construction

stormwater management

community engagement

risk management