RC123 MarApr 2026 - Magazine - Page 18
WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE
BUILDING BETTER
Innovation, collaboration, and technology are shaping
the future of wastewater treatment plant design
by John Tenpenny
W
John Tenpenny is the
editor of ReNew Canada.
john@SiteMediaGroup.
The power of early contractor involvement
The traditional “design-bid-build” model is increasingly
being viewed as a hurdle to e昀케ciency. Ian McKinnon,
manager of civil operations for PCL Edmonton,
emphasized that bringing constructors to the table before
the design is 昀椀nalized is no longer just a luxury—it is a
necessity for risk mitigation.
“Early input really helps us 昀氀ag constructability
issues and optimize the sequence of construction long
before design is locked in, and that helps obviously
reduce change orders, RFIs, and the worst cases, delays,”
McKinnon explained. “Anything that takes away from
the focus of the task at hand... is a detriment to what
people are supposed to be doing each day. Minimizing late
changes just should be a key goal for every project.”
From the owner’s perspective, Kate Polkovsky, CEO of
ARROW Utilities, noted that early contractor involvement
is a signi昀椀cant driver of cost certainty. “The contractors
have such a good lens on what is reasonable to construct,
what will cost an additional few hundred thousand
dollars just by bending rebar and taking additional time,”
she said. “You also have the opportunity of getting some
long-lead items ordered much earlier, which can help with
your timelines of your project as well as mitigating further
in昀氀ationary impacts.”
Lucy Cotter, project manager for the Iona Island
Wastewater Treatment Plant Projects for Metro Vancouver,
18—RENEW CANADA – MARCH/APRIL 2026
agreed, noting that designers often miss the
practical 昀椀eld perspectives that a contractor
provides. “We’re really looking for that di昀昀erent
perspective,” Cotter said. “The things that design
engineers maybe are not thinking about... can save
on schedule and budget.”
Digital twins and the “video games”
The adoption of Building Information Modeling
(BIM) and Digital Twins is transforming both the
construction phase and the eventual handover to
operations. McKinnon highlighted a project for
ARROW Utilities where a full digital model was
instrumental in pre-planning.
“We used the model extensively for phase
planning and sequencing,” McKinnon said. “By
昀氀ipping a few sequences around, we managed to
do a few things like minimize shrinkage on the
concrete, really ensure that our openings that were
left for say mechanical installations and whatnot
were optimized.”
THE PANEL:
IAN MCKINNON,
Manager of Civil Operations,
PCL Construction (Edmonton)
KATE POLKOVSKY,
CEO, ARROW Utilities
LUCY COTTER,
Project Manager,
Iona Island Wastewater
Treatment Plant, Metro Vancouver
RENEWCANADA.NET
METRO VANCOUVER
ASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE is the invisible backbone
of a healthy society, but the challenges of maintaining and expanding these systems have never
been more complex. From navigating rigid regulatory environments to addressing the existential
threat of sea-level rise, the industry is moving
toward a more integrated, tech-forward approach.
That was the central theme of a recent webinar hosted
by Renew Canada and Water Canada, sponsored by PCL
Construction. A panel of experts explored how innovation,
resilience, and early collaboration are reshaping the way
we build the facilities that protect our most precious
resource.
