Denver International Airport (On Call)
SMITH, Peter Smith’s previous environmental firm, held the On-Call Environmental Design SBE contract at DEN from 2022 through 2025. The objective of this contract was to provide On-Call services to the Airport Infrastructure Management Development Division (AIM), which included environmental studies, field investigations, laboratory testing, reporting, scheduling and cost estimating, and other environmental design and support services. Two task orders were completed consuming the $1 million contract: Peña Blvd Seep Investigation and Stormwater facilities condition assessment (airside).
Peña Pipe Seep Investigation (Amount: $157,621): SMITH conducted a root cause investigation of high pH water discharge from a HDPE pipe south of Peña Blvd West and 200 ft northwest of the split between Peña Blvd West and Peña Blvd East. This flow discharges into the Libra tributary, which flows into third Creek, a state water, and a waters of the U.S. It is a violation of DEN’s MS4 permit – an illicit discharge filed with the state in 2021. DEN could not discover the cause or source of this discharge in 2022. SMITH’s 2023 investigation was more detailed and focused on finding the source and pathway of the discharge, and why it had a pH of >12.5 (making it a hazardous waste). SMITH investigated and studied the soils, hydrology, bedrock, pipelines, pipeline bedding, roadway subgrade, concrete washout areas, and other project impacts to identify the source, origin, and flow pathway(s) of the high pH (and highly saline and sodic) water. A final root cause analysis report detailing the investigation, analyses, findings, conclusions, and recommendations for potential mitigation, was delivered to DEN in late 2023.
Stormwater Condition Assessment - Amount: $842,471.00
The Stormwater Condition Assessment portion of this work involved locating and assessing the condition of all stormwater infrastructure assets within the Aircraft Operations Area (AOA) with the goal of developing a system maintenance and rehabilitation plan. The stormwater structures assessed included but were not limited to inlets, manholes, culverts, concrete channels, earthen swales, areas of riprap, check dams, and ponds. Smith assessed over 2,400 structures and key components. Each assessment included collecting coordinates, creating a unique identifier, collecting photographic records, and determining the condition of each asset.
In the final report, structures were organized by priority with the most extensively damaged structures at the highest priority. The location, potential impact on airport operations, and rate of deterioration were all considered when prioritizing structures within the final maintenance plan. Alongside the maintenance plan, field reports, a master inventory list, and a CAD Map containing structure locations, outfall locations, and assumed pipe connections were included with the submittal of the final report. Comments received from the DEN PM, Matt Love werecomplimentary of the report, the content, organization, and appearance, stating “I really have appreciated working with SMITH”.
GIS Database
The data that’s collected were developed into a mapping format compatible with DEN’s GIS mapping. SMITH developed a geodatabase in ESRI ArcGIS Pro that contains all stormwater elements captured as part of the field investigation and inventory. The CAD file with the captured survey data was used to map the captured elements into DEN’s Spatial Gateway GIS system. SMITH provided the geodatabase (.shp files) as a standalone submittal.
“Thank you for the final submittal and for SMITH’s efforts over the last three years on this long and complex project. I appreciate the time, coordination, and effort that it took to complete this condition assessment. These deliverables will be valuable to the entire DEN team as we integrate the mapped stormwater infrastructure into our GIS system. I really appreciate your early morning and late-night work efforts and all your coordination with our survey staff during the field investigation, and for always taking my calls on a moment’s notice! Thanks for your collaboration throughout the project and under your on-call contract and I hope to work with SMITH again soon.” — Matt Love, DEN Project Manager
