Weatherford advances 18mgd plant expansion with $43.9m GMP
Weatherford Municipal Utility Systems, Texas · Meeting date: October 29, 2026 · Published: October 30, 2026
The Municipal Utility Board approved GMP 4 for Weatherford’s Dr. Paul Phillips Water Purification Plant expansion, taking the Webber Waterworks contract ceiling to $96.86 million. The package covers a new raw-water pump station, a 36-inch pipeline and associated electrical and instrumentation work.
Key points
- GMP 4 authorises $43,883,869.50 of work and increases the Webber Waterworks contract value to a not-to-exceed $96,856,978.55.
- The phase will replace an undersized, ageing raw-water pump station built in the 1950s, while supporting the current expansion to 18mgd and an eventual 22mgd plant.
- Staff said negotiations, reduced contingency and an underspend in the preceding phase lowered the GMP 4 cost by about $3.2 million from the original bids.
- Construction on the phase is due to begin on 2 November and conclude in June 2029.
Full report
Weatherford Municipal Utility Board has approved a $43.88 million guaranteed maximum price (GMP) package for the Dr. Paul Phillips Water Purification Plant expansion to 18mgd, authorising the next major stage of a project intended ultimately to reach 22mgd.
The board approved an amendment to its agreement with Webber Waterworks, LLC for GMP 4, lifting the contract’s not-to-exceed value to $96.86 million. The new overall guaranteed maximum price is $96.20 million.
GMP 4 covers Phase 3 of the programme: a new raw-water pump station, a 36-inch raw-water pipeline, and associated electrical and instrumentation works. The work was competitively bid in four packages covering pumps; the pump-station structure and bridge; the pipeline; and electrical and instrumentation.
The existing raw-water pump station was constructed in the 1950s and has served the city for more than 70 years, Water Utilities director Rick Shaffer told the board. However, he said it is undersized and underrated for the planned expansion, while much of its equipment requires full replacement. The intention is to remove the old structure once the new station is in service.
The project had originally been divided into Phases 2, 3 and 4. Weatherford has now separated the granular activated carbon contactors into a standalone phase, both to pursue Texas Water Development Board grant funding and to avoid delaying the remaining Phase 4 work while that funding process proceeds.
Earlier GMPs 1 through 3 covered Phase 2, the filter-process building, which staff said is nearing completion. Shaffer said Phase 2 is trending about $2 million under budget, enabling the utility to carry remaining contingency into Phase 3 rather than include an additional $1.8 million contingency allowance in GMP 4.
Staff also negotiated an approximately $960,000 reduction in Webber’s construction-manager-at-risk fee and a roughly $450,000 cut in general conditions costs. Together with the contingency change, those measures reduced the Phase 3 package by about $3.2 million from the original bid prices, Shaffer said.
Phase 3 construction is scheduled to start on 2 November and be completed by June 2029. Future phases are expected to overlap with the Phase 3 schedule, which staff said should reduce general conditions charges in those later packages because part of the relevant construction-period costs will already be covered.
This summary was generated by AI based on the source document and may contain errors.
Source: Municipal Utility Board - Oct 29, 2026, Weatherford Municipal Utility Systems