The Big Creek Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) Expansion, supported by Gresham Smith in its role as Construction Manager, has received a National Award of Merit in the Water/Wastewater category from the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA). The project team was honored Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, at DBIA’s annual Design-Build Awards Celebration in Las Vegas during the association’s 2025 Design-Build Conference & Expo.
As Fulton County’s largest-ever capital improvement project, the Big Creek WRF provides advanced wastewater treatment for more than 250,000 residents, businesses and institutions. The expansion increased capacity from 24 million gallons per day (MGD) to 32 MGD, upgraded treatment with membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology, and improved water quality discharged into the Chattahoochee River. The facility’s gravity-flow design eliminates the need for energy-intensive pumping, saving an estimated 40-million-kilowatt hours over 20 years.
Using a progressive design-build delivery method fostered early collaboration, shortened the schedule by two months and saved more than $2 million. Prefabrication, modular design, and reuse of existing infrastructure further reduced costs, avoiding an additional $25 million in expenses.
“We’re honored to see the Big Creek WRF Expansion recognized on a national stage,” said Senior Water Resources Engineer Alexander Sharp, P.E. “This project embodies our commitment to responsible design—creating infrastructure that protects natural resources, strengthens communities, and sets a new standard for sustainable water treatment in the Southeast.”
Now in its 11th year, the DBIA National Design-Build Project/Team Merit Awards honor projects that showcase technical excellence and embody the collaborative spirit, creativity and forward-thinking that define Design-Build Done Right®. From revitalizing communities to advancing sustainability and delivering complex projects with speed and innovation, this year’s winners demonstrate the transformative power of design-build to shape the future of the built environment across 10 project categories. A panel of industry experts evaluated each entry based on the design-build process, design excellence and team performance.
