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Houston, We Have a Solution: When the Project Evolves, the Design Has to Respond

Key Takeaways:

  • IFC is an important milestone, but evolving site conditions and project requirements may still require design adjustments.
  • On a 1,170-acre utility-scale solar project, storm-related erosion affected array tolerances while environmental considerations prompted the team to reassess five roadway crossings.
  • Modular welded steel bridge deck panels reduced potential streambed disturbance, increased abutment setbacks and required less earthwork than the original culvert design.
  • Re-evaluating actual field conditions helped protect constructability, previously procured materials, project costs and the construction schedule.

Reaching Issued for Construction (IFC) does not mean a project stops changing. Even after the flight plan is set, new conditions can require a course correction.

On a 1,170-acre utility-scale solar project, the team faced two separate challenges. A major storm caused significant erosion, changing ground conditions across portions of the site. Separately, heightened sensitivity around streams, ephemeral streams and wetlands prompted another look at five planned roadway crossings.

Different challenges pointed to the same question: when conditions or requirements change, should the original design remain the answer?

Houston, we have a solution. Re-evaluate + adapt the design.

Rethinking the Crossings

Five roadway crossings were originally designed with corrugated metal pipe arch culverts. While viable, heightened sensitivity around the waterways and adjacent buffers prompted the team to reconsider the approach.

KWRE collaborated with a manufacturer of modular welded steel bridge deck panels to develop an alternative with greater clear span. The solution reduced potential stream bed disturbance, increased setbacks for the abutments and reduced earthwork. It also proved quicker and less costly than the original culvert design.

Re-Evaluating the Array Design

Elsewhere, clearing, grubbing and storm-related erosion changed ground conditions beyond the construction tolerances established for portions of the original array design.

With structural materials already ordered and delivered, the team divided the site into zones based on the EPC’s needs, evaluated the arrays against current conditions and adjusted the design where needed.

Two challenges required two course corrections, but the approach remained the same: understand what changed, evaluate the impact and adapt accordingly.

For developers, IFC is a milestone, not the end of design thinking. Field conditions and project requirements can continue to evolve. Re-evaluating the flight plan can help protect constructability, procured materials, cost and schedule as the project advances.

Mission Debrief: How to Adapt When the Project Evolves

  • Assess the New Coordinates: Understand how changing conditions or requirements affect the original design.
  • Re-Evaluate the Flight Plan: Determine whether the established solution still serves the project or if another approach better addresses its needs.
  • Make the Course Correction: Adapt the design while keeping constructability, cost, schedule and future project needs on trajectory.

The goal is not to preserve the original solution at all costs. It is to keep adapting the design to where the project is going. Mission accomplished.

KWRE | Transforming Visions into Sustainable Realities 🔗 Kier + Wright Affiliate | Full-Solution Renewable Engineering 🌍 Operating in 49 U.S. States | Focus on Diverse Renewables 🏭 Delivering Developments Up to 800 MW Capacity 🚀 Navigating the Future of Renewable Energy Together!