Placer County Water Agency Wins Big at Awards Ceremony

The Placer County Water Agency won three top honors, including “Outstanding Project of the Year,” on Wednesday evening (Feb. 25) at the annual awards presentation of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Sacramento Section.

The honors were given at the society’s Awards Banquet at the Delta King Hotel, Sacramento.  PCWA Board Chairman Gray Allen and General Manager David A. Breninger along with agency engineers attended the event.

‘We are honored to receive these awards for PCWA projects that benefit the people of Placer County,’ said Breninger.  ‘The agency is proud to have a dedicated and professional engineering team that takes great pride in its accomplishments.   It’s very gratifying to see their efforts recognized by their peers.’

PCWA won praise for its successful completion of the American River Pump Station and River Restoration Project, which received two awards; and for the Ophir Road Pump Station Project, which was recognized for its architectural excellence as designed by Ron Lichau of Auburn.

The $75 million pump station project, in planning for nearly two decades and completed in 2008, was named ‘Outstanding Project of the Year’ and also received the society’s Coast, Oceans, Ports and Rivers Institute Award for the year.

‘The scope of the project was so large; it was head and shoulders above everything else,’ said awards committee chairman Erik Johnson.  ‘It had the whole package; it was environmentally sensitive, it was in planning for years and it was a much needed project.’

The pump station and river restoration were completed as a joint project of PCWA and the federal Bureau of Reclamation.

Design and engineering on the American River Pump Station was by MWH Americas, Inc. and construction was completed by Steve Manning Construction, Inc.  The design for the restoration of the river channel was by W.H. Pacific, Inc. and construction was by Ford Construction Co., Inc.  Key PCWA staff members on the entire project were Einar Maisch, Brian Martin, Brent Smith, Rick Bauer and project engineer Tony Firenzi.

The $48 million Ophir Road Pump Station Project, completed in November 2008 is designed to blend with the surrounding rural Placer County landscape.   ‘It’s a topnotch architectural design that fits the community,’ Johnson said.

Architectural concepts and design were by architect Ron Lichau of Lichau & Associates Architects of Auburn, and VE Solutions, Inc.  These were used to develop project construction drawings by the consulting firm of West Yost Associates.  The construction contractor was Pacific Mechanical Corp.  Rick Lund served as PCWA’s project engineer.