Ten-Year Water Improvement Program Planned
The agency that provides sewage treatment for more than 50 cities and sanitation districts in the Denver metro area plans a major 10-year facility improvement program to handle the area's population growth, improve the quality of the water it discharges into the South Platte River and upgrade or replace some older facilities.

The water quality improvements are a response to stricter water standards approved by federal and state agencies. For example, to meet new disinfection standards adopted by the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission in 2000, the Metro District will need new equipment costing about $15 million. The result will be higher quality water discharged to the South Platte.

The program includes just over $600 million in different construction projects over the next 10 years although the cost could be less depending on things such as actual population growth, new regulations and the condition of equipment when it's refurbished.

The money to pay for the improvements will come through user fees the Metro District calls "annual charges for service" and a capital replacement fund initiated several years ago. Annual charges for service is the fee Metro charges the cities and sanitation districts it serves to recover the cost of providing sewage treatment for them. No bonds or other debt will be incurred.

One large project is a major upgrade to the secondary treatment portion of Metro's South Plant, which was first placed in service in 1976. The cost to improve this portion of the treatment system alone is estimated at more than $160 million. However, this part of the program won't begin until about 2008. The District will continue to evaluate system requirements before starting on it.

Other projects will include refurbishing or adding to the underground pipes that comprise the Metro District's sewer system and new equipment for processing solids and biosolids.
The Metro District is the largest sewage treatment facility in the West and serves most of metropolitan Denver.

CDOT Releases First Quarter 2003 Construction Cost Index
For the first quarter of 2003, the Colorado Construction Cost Index category indices showing an increase were earthwork, structural concrete, concrete pavement and reinforcing steel. The index level decreased for hot bituminous pavement.

Sixty-six projects were bid and awarded this quarter for a total of $121,310,464.79. By comparison, 40 projects were bid last quarter. The six categories for CCI items totaled $56,986,299.94, which is 47 percent of the total awarded amount.

The competition for projects decreased from 5.73 to 5.41 bidders for each project on average.

Sixteen maintenance contract projects and three metric projects were bid this quarter. No design-build or lump-sum projects were bid.

The Colorado Construction Cost Index is composed of six indicator items and based on bid prices relative to the unit prices of 1987 (unit index=100).

• Earthwork (Excavation and Embankment): The average price was $4.23 a cu yd, up $1.92 from the previous quarter. The previous quarter had two large projects, resulting in an unusually low average. The current quarter average price is comparable to the average bid price of $3.74 a cu yd for 2002.
• Hot Bituminous Pavement: The average price was $36.48 a ton, down $2.23 from the previous quarter. Good competition on asphalt projects bid this quarter contributed to this lower average price.
• Concrete Pavement: The average price was $24.92 a sq yd, up $3.66 from the previous quarter. The previous quarter had a large concrete pavement project, resulting in a low average. The current quarter average price is comparable to the average bid price of $24.81 a sq yd for the entire year 2002.
• Structural Steel: No structural steel items were considered for this quarter.
• Structural Concrete: The average price was $283.25 a cu yd, up $25.88 from the previous quarter. The previous quarter had two large projects, resulting in a low average. The current quarter average price is comparable to the average bid price of $285.35 per lb for 2002.
• Reinforcing Steel: The average price was $0.57 per lb, up $0.08 per lb from the previous quarter. An historic bridge project was bid that had a high cost for reinforcing steel, increasing the overall average.

For the entire report, go to www.dot.state.co.us/App_eema_cdb/CostData2002.pdf.

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