SILOAM SPRINGS, Arkansas — The City of Siloam Springs and design-build partner Burns & McDonnell celebrated the completion of a $30 million upgrade to the City’s Water Treatment Plant with a ribbon-cutting. In the nearly three decades since Siloam Springs’ water treatment facility underwent its last major upgrade, the City’s population has more than doubled. To meet this growing demand and address the never-ending need for infrastructure reinvestment, the Siloam Springs Board of Directors set out to rehabilitate their water treatment facility with the goal of meeting projected water demands through the year 2040.

Today’s ribbon-cutting commemorates the completion of this successful project. “We are pleased with the outcome of this major upgrade to our water treatment plant which will ensure the water demands of our residents will be met for years to come,” says Judy Nation, mayor of Siloam Springs. “This project fits into our blueprint for future growth and allows us to continue to provide excellent customer service to all our residential and business customers.”

The City’s choice to utilize a single design-builder to deliver the project allowed quick evaluation of alternate designs, ultimately leading to a project that produced significant savings to customers. The project also marks the first time the State of Arkansas utilized an optimized design-build approach to deliver a project funded by the State Revolving Fund, positioning Siloam Springs as a leader in innovative capital project delivery. 

No large capital project is without challenges. For Siloam Springs, challenges included beginning project construction on March 12, 2020, one day after the World Health Organization characterized COVID-19 as a global pandemic. Yet the project was completed with zero safety recordables or lost time incidents. “The health of the population was uncertain, virtual meeting technology tools were in their infancy, supply chains were severely disrupted, and cost-escalation created uncertainty,” says Jake White of Burns & McDonnell and client advocate for the project. “However, the collective team of Siloam Springs and Burns & McDonnell pressed ahead. By making communication a priority and demonstrating an unwavering commitment to making this project a success, Siloam Springs’ new treatment facility was completed on time, under budget and is set to serve the residents of this growing community for decades.”

About Burns & McDonnell

Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies bringing together an unmatched team of 10,000 engineers, construction and craft professionals, architects, planners, technologists and scientists to design and build our critical infrastructure. With an integrated construction and design mindset, we offer full-service capabilities. Founded in 1898 and working from more than 60 offices globally, Burns & McDonnell is 100% employee-owned. Learn how we are designed to build.