Inside Ontario’s First Progressive Design-Build Wastewater Project

We’re proud to be leading Ontario’s first municipal wastewater project delivered through a Progressive Design-Build model, setting a new standard for how complex infrastructure gets built in Ontario.

Now officially underway, the Dalewood Water Reclamation Facility in St. Thomas, Ontario, represents a collaborative and transparent approach to major municipal infrastructure delivery. Unlike traditional delivery models, where projects are fully designed before competitive tendering and execution begins, the Progressive Design-Build (PDB) approach allows the project team to work collaboratively through phased design milestones while continuously evaluating constructability, risk, budget, and schedule.

For NAC, this project demonstrates the strength of combining self-perform expertise, real-time construction knowledge, and collaborative delivery to move complex infrastructure projects forward with confidence.

A Milestone for Ontario’s Water & Wastewater Industry

The Dalewood Water Reclamation Facility represents more than a major infrastructure investment for the City of St. Thomas. It marks a significant milestone in the evolution of municipal project delivery in Ontario’s water and wastewater sector.

We’re pleased to be partnering with two incredible engineering companies, JLR and WSP, to collaborate on the project. Their expertise and shared commitment to excellence is what gives us a significant advantage in the delivery of this landmark project.

At Dalewood, the City, design team, and NAC team have worked collaboratively from project concept to detailed design to align scope, budget, schedule, and operational priorities together, before full construction activities began.

That collaboration has already produced meaningful outcomes.

The team delivered design development in nearly half the timeframe typically associated with comparable projects, by focusing efforts on operationally critical requirements and leveraging construction expertise early to eliminate unnecessary complexity and reduce potential rework.

The phased PDB model also introduced structured decision points at the 30%, 60%, and Guaranteed Maximum Price milestones, allowing the City to evaluate scope, pricing, schedule, and project priorities throughout development.

Most importantly, the process created early transparency.

As the project evolved, it became clear that some original project expectations would exceed the available budget. Under a traditional delivery model, those realities may not have surfaced until after full design completion and tender pricing.

Instead, the team was able to identify challenges early, collaborate through difficult conversations, and adjust priorities before major downstream costs were incurred. That included exploring phased approaches, modular opportunities, scope refinement, and constructability-driven solutions to help maintain project feasibility while protecting long-term operational objectives.

From Vision to Execution

From proposal submission in November 2024, to active early works in less than a year, the Dalewood Water Reclamation Facility has advanced at a pace rarely seen on projects of this scale and complexity. The team focused on expediting the finalization of building and tank layout early to ensure confidence to support an early works program.

For a major municipal wastewater facility governed by rigorous operational, environmental, and regulatory requirements, the progress achieved to date reflects the strength of early collaboration, aligned decision-making, and the efficiencies created through the Progressive Design-Build model.

Early works are now underway, including bulk excavation activities and advancement of select building areas. Upcoming activities include project office set-up and ground improvements for major tankage foundations.

The project team continues to advance design and construction activities in parallel, prioritizing critical path and enabling work to maintain momentum while supporting cost certainty and schedule performance.

Following the Journey

As the project continues over the coming years, NAC will be sharing ongoing updates and behind-the-scenes insights into the milestones, challenges, collaboration, and construction progress shaping the Dalewood Water Reclamation Facility.

As a leader in collaborative water and wastewater infrastructure delivery, NAC is proud to be at the forefront of projects like Dalewood demonstrating how Progressive Design-Build can accelerate delivery, improve transparency, strengthen cost certainty, and drive better outcomes for owners and communities.

 Through this project, we look forward to sharing the lessons, progress, and successes that are helping shape the future of municipal infrastructure delivery in Ontario.