Technical Services
Imagine looking into the future, anticipating how a facility or piece of equipment will fulfill a need, and figuring out the mechanics of how it will function. You´ll have a pretty good sense of what LVMWD´s Technical Services team does as they apply their experience and varied skills in technical evaluation and design, project management, facility construction and renovation, and project inspection.
Concepts to Construction
Civil engineering forms the core of the group´s work. Civil engineering forms the core of the group´s work. Engineering is anticipating what something will do, working out how it will do it, creating the design to make that happen, then overseeing implementation. LVMWD´s Civil Engineers are required to complete a college Engineering Degree and pass a nationally administrated two-day licensing exam. While operating as a team, they specialize in specific areas of water engineering, such as hydraulic modeling, pipeline design, and corrosion protection, bringing together the knowledge and skills necessary to handle a complex and sizable water system. Beyond water, the Engineers handle projects in wastewater management and biosolids composting.
LVMWD´s Technical Services is responsible for $10 to $20 million in projects and programs each year. The work requires not only technical expertise, but also a solid familiarity with the history and nuances of every district facility and system. In a mountainous, seismically active region, and four major district services to cover (potable water, recycled water, waste water treatment and biosolids composting), there´s quite a lot of information to integrate.
Quality Control
The team´s Facility Inspectors provide quality control for the millions of dollars in projects each year. Typically, Inspectors have worked extensively on construction crews before joining Tech Services, so they have a broad knowledge of the district´s systems. The inspectors are responsible for observing work underway and examining projects completed by contractors to ensure everything has been done as required and designed, using the proper materials and techniques. For larger projects, Inspectors represent the district at the job site, responding to customer´s questions, keeping contact in the community, and helping to coordinate with the contractor.
After all of the planning, design, coordination, construction, and inspection—Technical Services can take pride in an ongoing roster of completed projects. Whitaker summed it up, stating, "It´s very satisfying being involved in something that was just an idea, and someday—there it is—doing the work you intended." |
