Maintaining service levels of aging infrastructure, proactively planning to fund improvements, and achieving compliance with multiple regulatory programs was a challenge for the Town of Canton. Kleinfelder worked with the Town to develop a comprehensive and award-winning Asset Management and Capital Improvements Program for Canton’s buried infrastructure. The program utilizes a risk-based asset management framework to prioritize water main improvements for which Kleinfelder is providing design and construction services.

Establishing an Asset Management Program Framework

Taking a five-year phased approach, Kleinfelder and the Canton team collaborated to develop and implement a program tailored to Canton’s resources. Initial milestones included establishing levels of service goals and performance metrics, improving the infrastructure asset inventory, identifying data gaps, and prioritizing further data collection efforts based on a criticality analysis. Kleinfelder educated Canton’s operations staff on asset management principles and provided training on the collection of additional asset inventory and condition data through everyday operations. Kleinfelder also developed a custom tool for water operations compliance tracking.

Water Master Plan and Hydraulic Model Update

The Town’s drinking water infrastructure was a major priority of the program. Kleinfelder prepared a Water Master Plan for the Town’s water supply, distribution, and storage. The evaluation included demand projections and supply adequacy assessment, as well as updating Canton’s hydraulic model to evaluate water age and spatially distributed demand. Flow testing and model calibration were used to identify hydraulic deficiencies in the system.

Risk-Based Capital Improvements Planning

Along with the hydraulics-driven recommendations, Kleinfelder used the water main condition data and information such as the year installed, diameter, and material, to develop a risk-based financial model. The result is a five-year program of water main capital improvements and a financial model.

Project Results

With a forward-looking program for proactively managing drinking water assets, Canton can meet its level of service goals while optimizing life cycle costs. Furthermore, data needed to sustain the program can be collected by Canton’s trained operations staff.

Project Details

Location:
Canton, MA

Owner:
Town of Canton, MA