Zachry Unit Crescent Constructors Wins $89M Texas Water Contract
Crescent Constructors has landed an $89 million contract to expand the Prairie Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Lewisville, Texas, Construction Dive reports, marking one of the first major wins for the firm since Zachry Construction acquired it in September.
Market Impact
The project will boost the plant’s operating capacity from 12 million gallons per day to 16 million, according to a June 30 announcement covered by Construction Dive. Crescent’s scope includes expanding the aeration basin, demolishing an older section of the facility to make way for a new blower building, and rehabilitating the existing headworks, aeration basins, and the return/waste activated sludge building. The work also covers related piping, electrical, controls, and site improvements.
Because the plant must stay operational throughout construction, Crescent will execute the work in phases, coordinating electrical and controls integration, supplier representatives, and planned shutdowns to limit disruption. Final completion is targeted for November 2028. The city of Lewisville, which has grown 10.6% since April 2020 to an estimated population of 139,000, sees this as the first phase of a longer-term push to eventually reach 20 million gallons per day of treatment capacity, according to a city news release cited in the report.
The deal is notable for Zachry, which acquired Crescent, a Plano-based firm specializing in municipal and wastewater work, specifically to build out its presence in the water infrastructure market.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Civil, electrical, and controls subs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area should watch for subcontract packages from Crescent Constructors tied to the Prairie Creek project, given the phased approach and the need for electrical, controls integration, and supplier reps through November 2028.
- Piping and mechanical contractors experienced in live-plant retrofits have an opening here: the project requires rehabilitating active infrastructure (headworks, aeration basins, sludge handling) while keeping the facility running, a specialty skill set that not every GC can staff internally.
- Firms with wastewater treatment credentials should track Lewisville’s stated long-term goal of reaching 20 million gallons per day capacity, since the current $89 million scope is described as the first phase, suggesting additional bid packages could follow as the city grows past its current 139,000 population.
- Subs working with Zachry on other projects should note the Crescent acquisition signals the San Antonio-based GC is actively expanding its municipal water division, which could mean more Texas water and wastewater bid opportunities funneled through this newly combined entity in the near term.
