Featured projects in the Americas

ARGENTINA – PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT AND ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR THE GREATER BUENOS AIRES WATER AND WASTEWATER CONCESSION

In 1993, Safege, as part of a consortium with Montgomery Watson, was assigned responsibility for the design and construction supervision services for the rehabilitation and expansion of the water and wastewater systems of Greater Buenos Aires (population of more than 14 million).

This contract, which spanned a period of more than 10 years, is one of the largest of its kind in the past three decades, encompassing among others the feasibility studies, preliminary designs and construction supervision services for the following works :

Saavedra-Moron water tunnel (15 km-long, 3.5 m-diameter tunnel of capacity 9 m³/s, excavated at a depth of 30 m),

drinking water pumping stations of Morón (capacity 5.5 m³/s), 3 de Febrero (3.5 m³/s), Quilmés (2.2 m³/s) and Bernal (3.4 m³/s),

San Fernando wastewater treatment plant (1 million PE),

rehabilitation of the La Matanza wastewater treatment plant (1 million PE) and the Wilde pumping station (40 m³/s),

expansion of the Bernal water treatment plant (300,000 m³/day) and rehabilitation of the San Martin water treatment plant (4 million m³/day),

Left Bank collector sewer and Capital wastewater treatment plant and outfall (25 m³/s),

1,300 km of primary and secondary water and sewer lines.

The services enabled the concessionaire to optimise US$1,200 of investments over a period of seven years, and to extend water and wastewater services to an additional three million people.

PUERTO RICO – TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE PUERTO RICO WATER AND WASTEWATER SYSTEM

Between 2002 and 2004, Safege provided large-scale technical assistance for the development and implementation of procedures to manage the investment programme at Ondeo de Puerto Rico, the water and wastewater operator for the entire country (population 4 million).

The services provided by Safege covered all of the relevant technical aspects, including :

formulation of master plans for the management of water resources and for the rehabilitation and expansion of the water treatment and distribution facilities and wastewater collection and treatment facilities,

planning of environmental protection measures in coordination with the EPA (Environmental Public Agency),

coordination of engineering services (feasibility studies, preliminary designs and supervision of detailed design studies),

organisation and supervision of construction supervision teams,

development of a non-revenue water reduction and monitoring plan.

Since 2004 Safege has continued to work in Puerto Rico, providing technical assistance to the state utility PRASA for the strategic planning component of its investment plan (representing an annual US$300 million).

HONDURAS – BAY ISLANDS ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PROJECT

The aim of this study, entrusted by the government of Honduras to the consortium Safege-Sogreah-Moncada in 1998, was to develop an integrated management plan to protect the archipelago's marine and terrestrial resources as a basis for promoting tourism and economic growth.

Further to an initial phase of detailed assessment, the project enabled the establishment of :

a permanent natural resources observatory to monitor terrestrial and marine ecosystems, with inventory and monitoring of flora and fauna via an innovative geographic information system,

protected terrestrial and marine areas managed under an appropriate conservation plan,

a sustainable development policy made possible by the emphasis on the socio-economic and environmental education parameters.

The project was one of the first of its kind and scale, and the quality of the international expertise mobilised by Safege (including input from the Cousteau team and Ifremer) was a key contributory factor to its success.