OWNER MEMBER SPOTLIGHT | GREAT RIVERS GREENWAY

A greenway may look like a simple path through a neighborhood. Behind it is a coordinated investment in transportation, engineering, public space and community connections.

For Great Rivers Greenway, an SLC3 owner member, that work continues to take shape across the region. An August funding approval committed approximately $10.5 million in federal investment to projects along the Brickline, Hodiamont and Centennial greenways, supporting future construction in St. Louis City and St. Charles County.

The projects offer a useful look at the infrastructure behind a connected region, from safer street crossings to wider bridges and improved drainage.

Three Projects, One Connected Vision

On August 26, East-West Gateway Council of Governments’ Board of Directors approved funding for three projects:

A construction company’s impact can reach well beyond the projects it delivers. For Helmkamp Construction Co., that impact includes scholarships, support for local families, health initiatives, and employees coming together to decide where their generosity can do the most good.

The East Alton-based company announced on October 12 that the Helmkamp Cares Foundation has surpassed $1 million in charitable giving since its establishment in July 2019. Over that time, the foundation has supported more than 100 organizations, bringing together employees, industry partners, and the community around a shared commitment to service.

Behind the milestone is a simple idea: give employees a meaningful voice in giving back.

A vision built into the company’s culture

Helmkamp CEO and Owner Rob Johnes established the foundation one year after taking ownership of the company. His vision was to build on Helmkamp’s long-standing tradition of philanthropy through a formal foundation that could strengthen community relationships and expand its reach.

Marketing Director Jen Jackson served as the inaugural committee chair for the first five years, helping establish the foundation’s direction and core values.

Today, Project Coordinator Alyssa Spa chairs a committee of nine employees whose roles span accounting, project management, safety, superintendent responsibilities, and other areas of the company. Bringing those perspectives together helps ensure giving decisions reflect the interests and passions of the people behind Helmkamp’s work.

Construction depends on people. Every project brings together different skills, experiences, companies, and perspectives. Creating an environment where those people feel respected, supported, and comfortable contributing deserves attention throughout the year.

Construction Inclusion Week, observed October 12–16, 2026, offered the industry an opportunity to focus on expanding career opportunities, supporting professional growth, and building a sense of belonging. As the week concludes, the next step is carrying that focus into daily work.

From Welcoming People to Supporting Their Success

Getting someone interested in construction is only the beginning. What happens after they arrive matters, too.

Does a new employee know whom to ask for help? Can an apprentice raise a question without feeling embarrassed? Are employees given clear guidance and opportunities to develop their skills? Do project partners feel comfortable bringing a concern to the table?

These questions make inclusion tangible. They connect workplace culture to the conversations, decisions, and relationships that shape someone’s experience in the industry.

Construction Inclusion Week encourages participation across the project team, including owners, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, architects, and engineers. Its emphasis on workforce development connects recruitment with the workplace conditions that help people stay and grow.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT | ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

An airport transformation begins long before travelers step into a new concourse. It starts with decisions about capacity, infrastructure, operations and how to build for the future while keeping an essential transportation hub moving.

At St. Louis Lambert International Airport, an SLC3 owner member, those decisions are shaping the proposed Consolidated Terminal Program, a major modernization effort intended to bring passenger operations into a single terminal complex.

For the region’s architecture, engineering and construction community, the project offers a look at the coordination behind transforming a working airport.

More Than a New Terminal

Lambert’s proposed transformation reaches well beyond the spaces passengers see at their gates.

The airport’s planning materials and design solicitation identify a connected program of improvements, including:

• A renovated terminal and new concourse with gates on both sides
• A centralized security screening checkpoint
• A new federal inspection facility for international arrivals
• An all-new baggage system and updated building systems
• Reconfigured roadways, an improved entrance and expanded parking

Together, these elements address passenger circulation, aging facilities, operational reliability and the infrastructure needed to support a modern airport.

Each component also affects the others. Roadway design influences access to the terminal. Security and baggage systems shape the building’s layout. Gate placement affects aircraft operations and the distance passengers walk.

From a project-delivery perspective, that interdependence makes early coordination essential.

OWNER MEMBER SPOTLIGHT | AMEREN

The buildings attracting the most attention across St. Louis may be data centers, manufacturing facilities, hospitals and major redevelopment projects.

But none of them happen without the infrastructure behind them.

A newly released economic-impact study from Ameren provides a timely reminder that the region’s construction pipeline is increasingly connected to another enormous category of investment: the electric grid.

According to the study, Ameren’s operations, infrastructure improvements and economic-development activity supported approximately 63,000 jobs and $25.9 billion in economic output across Missouri and Illinois in 2025. Ameren also reported spending approximately $2.5 billion with in-state vendors.

Those numbers tell an economic story. For the AEC industry, they also tell an infrastructure story.

Growth Starts Before the Building

As St. Louis competes for increasingly sophisticated projects, site readiness means much more than available acreage.

Owners considering major investments must understand:

• Available electrical capacity
• Transmission and distribution infrastructure
• Substation requirements
• Utility lead times
• Redundancy and reliability requirements
• Future expansion capacity
• Coordination between utility infrastructure and project schedules

Those questions are particularly important for power-intensive facilities such as advanced manufacturing operations, research facilities, healthcare campuses and data centers.

In other words, some of the most important work determining whether a future St. Louis project moves forward may happen well before a construction trailer arrives on site.

Modernizing an Aging System

That work is already visible locally.

In July, Ameren Missouri energized an upgraded substation in Dellwood serving approximately 4,500 customers in north St. Louis County. The project replaced equipment that had been in service for more than 60 years and incorporated modern switchgear and automated controls designed to identify problems and restore service more efficiently.

A single substation project may not command the same attention as a new skyline-changing development, but investments like it are fundamental to the region’s ability to support both existing communities and future growth.

PROJECTS TO WATCH | REGIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Some of the region’s most substantial construction investments will never become part of its skyline.

Approximately 200 feet beneath St. Louis, a planned wastewater storage tunnel will help address a challenge facing many older communities: what happens when heavy rainfall overwhelms a combined sewer system.

MSD Project Clear’s Lower & Middle River Des Peres Storage Tunnel represents a major investment in that solution. MSD, an SLC3 owner member, describes an approximately nine-mile-long tunnel with a 30-foot inside diameterdesigned to capture and temporarily store combined stormwater and wastewater before it can overflow into River Des Peres.

For the architecture, engineering and construction community, the project offers a look at the scale and coordination behind essential underground infrastructure.

Managing Water Before It Reaches the River

In a combined sewer system, stormwater and wastewater travel through the same pipes. During heavy rain, flows can exceed the system’s capacity, resulting in combined sewer overflows into nearby waterways.

The planned tunnel will generally follow River Des Peres, capturing that mixed water before it enters the river. Drop shafts will carry flows from shallower sewers into the deep tunnel, where the water can be stored until it is treated at MSD’s Lemay Wastewater Treatment Plant.

That storage function is central to the project. By providing space to hold wet-weather flows, the tunnel will help the system manage periods when rainfall places the greatest demand on existing infrastructure.

A Substantial Underground Construction Program

The tunnel itself is only part of the planned work. MSD’s public project overview identifies several major components:

• An approximately nine-mile main tunnel with a 30-foot inside diameter
• Two connecting tunnels, each approximately half a mile long
• Large construction shafts providing access to the underground work
• Thirty-four intake structures
• A substantial excavation for a future cavern-style pump station

MSD lists Jacobs as the design engineer and Black & Veatch as the construction manager. Its published project information identifies an estimated construction cost of $995 million, with construction anticipated to begin in 2029 and finish in 2038.

Those dates are planning estimates, but they illustrate the long delivery horizon associated with infrastructure of this scale.

Deep Construction, Surface-Level Coordination

Although much of the finished infrastructure will be underground, delivering it requires careful coordination above ground.

From a project-delivery perspective, shafts, intake structures and connections to existing sewers create interfaces with streets, utilities and surrounding neighborhoods. Construction access, material movement and site restoration must be considered alongside the tunneling work.

For owners and project teams, this highlights the importance of planning the entire system. The main tunnel, connecting structures and treatment operations must function together, while the construction approach must account for the communities above them.

Planning for the Long Term

MSD’s public project page includes materials from a June 2026 neighborhood meeting at Alaska Park, giving residents access to information about the planned work.

Community communication is particularly relevant for a project with a lengthy planning and construction period. Residents may experience individual work sites and construction phases without seeing the full underground system those activities support.

Clear explanations of the project’s purpose, local work and anticipated sequencing can help connect those visible activities to the broader infrastructure investment.

On October 8, SLC3 brought the architecture, engineering, and construction community together at Greenbriar Hills Country Club for BUILD Series: Build to Adapt, a training and education program focused on navigating the challenges that arise when project plans change.

The discussion brought together professionals whose different responsibilities offered a broad perspective on project adaptability, from the owner’s priorities to the coordination and decisions required across project teams.

Moderated by Rick DiFani, Vice President of LUZCO Technologies, the panel featured:

• Lusnail Haberberger, Founder and President, LUZCO Technologies
• Frank Niemerg, Director of Project Management, Ameren
• Trey Wiegmann, Vice President of Construction Services, Poettker Industrial Services
• Nick Kampwerth, Engineer, Plocher Construction

Even the best project plans encounter changes. What matters is how teams recognize challenges, communicate their impact, and respond together.

SLC3’s Built to Adapt: Real-World Leadership for Projects That Don’t Go According to Plan brought owner, engineering, and construction perspectives together for a practical discussion about keeping projects moving. The conversation reinforced that adaptability begins well before a problem occurs—with thoughtful planning, clear responsibilities, and the trust to speak openly.

Here are six takeaways to bring back to your team.

1. Make the schedule a shared planning tool.

A schedule needs to do more than establish a baseline. It should help everyone understand current conditions, critical activities, dependencies, and the decisions required to maintain progress.

Diligent review of the critical path helps teams assess how changes affect the entire project. Owners need clarity from contractors, and contractors need timely input from owners and other stakeholders. Breaking activities into meaningful detail—including submittals, procurement, and approvals—helps expose potential delays earlier.

Put it into practice: Review what has changed, what is at risk, and who needs to act at each schedule meeting.

2. Plan for what could go wrong before it does.

Supplier delays, space constraints, and execution challenges can quickly reduce the time available to respond. Discussing those risks early gives teams more options.

Contingency planning should establish more than a backup idea. Teams need to understand what would trigger a change in approach, who can authorize it, and how the response would affect other work.

Put it into practice: For major risks, ask: “If this happens, what will we do—and who makes that decision?”

3. Communicate problems while there is still time to respond.



Teams cannot address problems they do not know about. Concerns should surface promptly, and changes should reach every stakeholder whose work or decisions may be affected.

That requires an environment where people feel comfortable raising an issue without fear of blame. Trust makes early communication possible; clear accountability turns that communication into action.

Put it into practice: Establish a clear process for reporting issues, identifying affected parties, and assigning follow-up.

4. Give people the authority to keep work moving.

Unclear decision-making creates roadblocks. Project teams need to know who owns each decision, when it is needed, and when to escalate.

Equipping managers closest to the work to make decisions within defined limits can prevent unnecessary delays. Speed still requires judgment: rushing without enough information can create rework.

much more..continued...

Here's a question:

How many things are currently sitting in the back of your mind that you feel like you should be doing?

Not necessarily today.

Not necessarily this week.

But they're there.

That idea you want to explore. The person you need to call. The process you want to improve. The professional organization you should become more involved with. The article you want to read. The project you haven't quite gotten to.

Individually, they may be small.

Collectively, they become mental clutter.

And for many high-performing professionals, there's another problem:

We're really bad at saying no.

But It Doesn't Have to Be Yes or No

Someone asks you to participate on a committee.

It's a great opportunity.

But you're already overloaded.

Someone suggests a new initiative.

Lessons Learned: The Most Valuable Project Is the One That Improves the Next One

When a project reaches completion, the focus often shifts quickly to the next assignment. The ribbon is cut, the team disbands, and everyone moves on.

But one of the most valuable opportunities is often missed.

The Construction Industry Institute (CII) identifies Lessons Learned as a best practice because organizations that intentionally capture project knowledge consistently improve future project performance. Every project—whether highly successful or challenging—contains valuable insights that can reduce risk, improve efficiency, and strengthen decision-making on the next one.

Unfortunately, too often those lessons walk out the door with the project team.

The best organizations don’t wait until the end of a project to ask, “What did we learn?” Instead, they create a culture of continuous improvement by discussing successes and challenges throughout the project lifecycle.