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The first step toward building a new state prison isn't breaking ground, it's adding it. Truck after truck for about six months. So much dirt the government isn't really sure where it will have to go to buy it.

This process is necessary because the land west of Salt Lake City International Airport is soft and wet. Adding an estimated 1.3 million cubic yards of dirt would help ensure the prison complex wouldn't sink, said Jim Russell, who is overseeing the massive project for the Division of Facilities Construction and Management.

"It is a time-consuming, significant part of the job," he said.

Lawmakers and state corrections officials are already antsy to get going, which is why the Prison Development Commission on Thursday nudged Russell to hire a project consultant and get going on these early pieces, rather than designing the entire complex before crews get to work. That's exactly the flexibility Russell sought from the panel made up mostly of the same state lawmakers who recommended moving the prison from Draper to the capital city.

"Every day we are not hauling dirt is money, and we don't want to waste any dollars," said Rep. Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, co-chairman of the commission.

Russell can't get started just yet. The state hasn't bought the land for a new 4,000-bed prison. The division is analyzing two sites, one closer to the Great Salt Lake and one about halfway between the lake and the airport.

Russell said he intends to present the commission with costs, benefits and obstacles of each site in an upcoming meeting, with the goal of buying the land in early 2016. At that time, he'd contract with a crew to build a temporary road and start hauling as many truckloads of dirt as possible.

The commission approved a set of recommendations Thursday suggesting that the prison should be completed four years after the land is purchased, or roughly in early 2020.

Rollin Cook, the executive director of the Department of Corrections and a member of the commission, said a new prison can't come soon enough. With winter approaching, he's worried about keeping the old heaters running in Draper.

But he also wants to ensure that a new prison complex is built properly, giving his staff the ability to add new treatment programs and classes for inmates, women-only areas, and to enhance safety for those locked up and those hired to guard them.

"We want to have a say in the final product because something that sometimes gets forgotten is safety and security," he said.

Cook plans to ask the Legislature eventually for funds to create "a transition team" to work with the construction manager. Part of those funds could allow his team to travel to prisons in other states to see what works, something Russell also mentioned as a key step in the design process.

The commission meeting had to be shifted to a larger room in the Capitol to accommodate all of the executives from construction companies attending, many of whom want a piece of this $550 million project. Nine of them addressed the commission, giving input on the right way to plan and execute such a massive undertaking. And some were not shy about their interest in bidding for the job.

"I would like the opportunity to be involved in this project," said Layton Construction Vice President Bruce McDonough.

Russell and commission members said they want a transparent process in which those bids for slices of the project would be disclosed publicly.

They also said they want a way for not just the current prison staff, but outside advocates from groups like the ACLU and the Disability Law Center to have a chance to shape a new prison, keeping in mind the goals of reducing recidivism.