Hensel Phelps Wins $309M Navy Contract for Red Hill Water Treatment Plant
Engineering News-Record reports that Hensel Phelps won a $309 million Navy contract on Aug. 11 to build the permanent treatment facility that will return Oahu’s contaminated Red Hill Shaft to potable water service.
The 2021 fuel release contaminated the shaft, triggering an unsafe-water advisory that affected roughly 93,000 consumers around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Though the advisory was lifted in March 2022 and the EPA says affected systems have met drinking-water standards since, the shaft itself has remained disconnected from potable use for nearly five years.
Market Impact
The firm-fixed-price, design-bid-build contract covers the P-716 Red Hill Water Treatment Facility, with completion targeted for August 2029. The Navy is obligating $109.3 million in fiscal 2026 military construction funds at award, with the remainder funded incrementally in future fiscal years. The award landed below NAVFAC’s earlier planning estimates, which ranged from $250 million to $600 million at various points.
“This contract marks an important milestone in our commitment to protecting the health and safety of our Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam community and restoring confidence in our water infrastructure,” said Capt. Andrew Hunt, NAVFAC Hawaii executive officer, on Aug. 12. Hensel Phelps Regional Vice President Jonathan Tseu told ENR that planning and coordination are already underway, though he noted the company is limited in what it can disclose under Navy contract-controlled information rules.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Heavy civil and earthwork crews should note the 25.6-acre site requires mechanically stabilized earth retaining walls up to 33 feet high, concrete retaining walls, and rockfall mitigation including scaling and anchored wire mesh, work NAVFAC’s bid requirements specifically flagged as needing prior experience.
- Firms with drilled shaft, well bore, or vertical-turbine pumping system experience are positioned for subcontract packages tied to the Red Hill Pump Station and water shaft modifications, since NAVFAC listed these as separate qualifying experience categories.
- Electrical and mechanical subs should watch for packages on the roughly 26,300 sq ft of new buildings, including the GAC vessel canopy, chemical-feed and neutralization buildings, and generator/switchgear structures, plus new underground electrical distribution and transmission piping.
- Site logistics subs should plan around construction staging on Hawaii DOT right-of-way, with one access route crossing Halawa Stream via an existing highway-rated culvert bridge, a constraint that will shape hauling and equipment scheduling through the 2029 completion date.
- GAC systems integrators and controls specialists should track commissioning-phase opportunities, since NAVFAC required prior experience with packaged GAC systems involving controls integration and testing, separate from the general construction scope.
