Northwest Service Area Water and Sewer Expansion

City of Perry

DATE OF SERVICES: April 2023 – June 2025

PROJECT STATUS:  Complete

PROJECT AWARD: ACEC 2026 Engineering Excellence Honor Award

    • Category: Waste and Storm Water

ROLE OF FIRM:

  • Engineering Design Services
  • Permitting Services
  • Construction Administration

PROJECT TEAM:     

  • Burke Murph – Client Manager
  • Claire Swaim – Senior Project Manager
  • Bill Jones – Construction Manager
  • Casey Piper – Senior Inspector
  • Matt Taylor – Quality Assurance/Quality Control

CLIENT:  The City of Perry

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

The City of Perry is one of Georgia’s fastest-growing communities, driven by rapid residential development and major new industry. That growth surged in 2022 when Jack Link’s selected Perry for its largest manufacturing facility – a $450 million investment bringing 800 new jobs to Middle Georgia. However, Perry’s existing water and sewer systems were not designed to support such a large industrial user, nor the increasing demands of nearby neighborhoods already experiencing low pressure and service limitations. To meet these critical needs and safeguard the City’s economic momentum, Perry partnered with GWES to deliver a strategic expansion of water and sewer capacity in the northwest service area.

GWES worked closely with City leadership to transform what began as an urgent infrastructure challenge into a coordinated, future-ready solution. After initial plans for an elevated storage tank were rendered infeasible due to FAA height restrictions near the Perry-Houston County Airport, GWES restructured the program into a three-project initiative: a 10-inch gravity sewer extension, new 12-inch water distribution and fill lines, and a one-million-gallon ground storage tank with a high-capacity booster pump station. By pairing traditional design-bid-build delivery for the linear projects with a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) approach for the tank and pump station, the city accelerated its schedule, reduced risk, and realized significant cost savings – ultimately completing the program ahead of schedule and more than $1.8 million under the original budget.

The completed Northwest Service Area Water and Sewer Expansion now provides the pressure, volume, and reliability required to support Jack Link’s operations while dramatically improving service and fire protection for existing residents. Designed with resiliency and long-term growth in mind, the expanded system positions Perry to continue welcoming new homes, businesses, and industries for decades to come. This program stands as a model of how innovative engineering, progressive project delivery, and strong public-private collaboration can secure economic opportunity and strengthen essential infrastructure for a rapidly growing community.