Notice of Future Progressive Design-Build Project
SD-465 – Dewatering Improvements Project
(Oakland, CA)

Owner: East Bay Municipal Utility District

Beginning in late summer 2026, the East Bay Municipal Utility District (District) will be soliciting statement of qualifications (SOQs) and proposals for an upcoming progressive design-build (PDB) Dewatering Improvements Project for its Main Wastewater Treatment Plant (MWWTP) in Oakland, CA.

The District is replacing its existing dewatering facility due to aging and obsolete equipment, excessive maintenance demands (more than 7,000 corrective maintenance hours annually), operational limitations on biosolids cake solids, and seismic deficiencies. The new facility is intended to improve sludge dewatering performance, improve reliability, reduce operations and maintenance burden, improve seismic resilience, reduce odors, among other project goals. Major project elements include the following:

• Dewatering Facility: a new facility that includes mechanical sludge dewatering systems (centrifuges), dewatered cake conveyance and storage facilities, truck loading facilities, polymer storage and feed, and ancillary support facilities and systems
• Digested Sludge Transfer System: a new pumping system and pipelines to replace the existing system and will convey digested sludge (DS) from existing secondary digesters to a new dewatering facility
• Centrate Return System: new wet wells, pumping systems, and pipelines to convey centrate (i.e., reject water from the dewatering process) to existing primary sedimentation tanks at the MWWTP
• Odor Control Facilities: new systems to contain and control odors from the new facilities listed above
• Ancillary Facilities and Systems: various other facilities and support systems for complete and functional facilities as described herein.

An indicative design for new dewatering facilities was completed to establish a basis for the project. Based on the indicative design and anticipated construction schedule, the estimated budget for the design-builder’s services including Phase 1 (design and preconstruction) and Phase 2 (final design and construction) is anticipated to be approximately $150 million.

Brown and Caldwell (BC) has been contracted as the owner advisor to support the PDB procurement through construction. This project will be the District’s first implemented using PDB, and it is the District’s goal to be an “owner of choice” to attract the best qualified design-build teams. To facilitate this, BC is seeking market input on behalf of the District prior to initiating the formal procurement process. This market sounding will consist of a virtual meeting guided by a list of pre-distributed questions, which will allow prospective design-build entities to provide direct input related to the project scoping, procurement approach, procurement and project timeline, anticipated risks, and industry best practices. The market sounding will take place in June/July 2026.

If you are interested in receiving a project brief with more information about this project, intend to participate as a prime contractor or engineer-of-record, or would like to participate in the market sounding, please contact Jaymes Walters at jwalters@brwncald.com to schedule a date/time for your virtual meeting. Please provide an email address for the main point of contact and Jaymes will reply with a project brief and a list of one-hour time slots available to choose from. Interested parties may participate as individual firms or as teams. To encourage candid feedback, the District staff will not be present at these market sounding meetings. Additionally, any input provided will not be attributed to specific companies/teams. Once all market sounding meetings have been conducted, BC will prepare a report for the District that will contain findings based on aggregated market sounding input.

Whether a company or team participates in the market sounding meetings will have no bearing whatsoever on the eligibility of the company or team to participate in any future procurement of design-build services related to the project. Neither will participation in the market sounding offer competitive advantage to any of the potential respondents.

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Notice of Future Progressive Design-Build Project
Little Miami Wastewater Treatment Plant and Four Mile and Little Miami Pump Stations
(Cincinnati, OH)

Owner: Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati

This fall, the City of Cincinnati will solicit the services of a progressive design-build team to construct a 115 mgd high rate treatment facility at the Little Miami Wastewater Treatment Plant and upgrade the Four Mile and Little Miami pump stations to reliably pump 215 mgd. Additional scope may include screening, disinfection, construction of a new outfall, and demolition of existing facilities. The total project cost, including owner advisor services, is anticipated to be approximately $327 million.

The City hired Brown and Caldwell (BC) as the owner advisor to support development of this procurement. Through BC, the City will seek market input prior to initiating a formal procurement for this project. This market sounding will be an informal conference call and an opportunity to provide input around the project, design-build approach, and collaborative best practices that the City has in mind for the procurement.

If you are interested in hearing more about this project, intend to participate as a prime contractor or engineer of record, and would like to participate in the market sounding, please contact Sabrina Hutchinson at shutchinson@brwncald.com. If this project is not on your list, you may still want to participate in the market sounding to support or promote your vision of progressive design-build best practices to inform future MSD procurements and projects.

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