allows the Construction Manager to remain responsible for
the coordination and delivery of these materials therefore
reducing the risk of the Town becoming responsible for
maintaining an adequate flow of materials to the contractor.
Economic and construction market conditions can also
influence project costs both positively and negatively. Market
conditions can be difficult to mitigate but incremental
measures can be taken to encourage competition for each of
the bid packages. We recommend that an industry forum
be held for the contracting community to generate interest
in bidding the packages as they are advertised. Where
the CM-at-Risk procurement method is employed, we
recommend that Construction Managers be procured on a
competitive basis. Keeping interest and competition for the
projects high will provide a level of mitigation against rising
construction costs.
To reduce the risk of unforeseen sub-surface conditions
including unknown/unmarked utilities, unsuitable soils,
contaminated soils, and/or rock conditions, we recommend
that geotechnical explorations, record drawing research, and
sub-surface utility locating be performed during the design
phase. While this will not completely eliminate unforeseen
subsurface conditions, it will eliminate a large number of
conflicts that otherwise would have arisen had none of these
explorations or research been performed. Since encountering
unforeseen subsurface conditions is inevitable on any urban
underground infrastructure project, it is imperative that the
design team, construction team, and Owner stay focused on
a solution for any given conflict until the problem is resolved.
By moving forward quickly to an agreed upon solution in a
non-adversarial manner, costs due to the conflict are generally
minimized.
To minimize the risk of increasing restoration costs due to
specific landscaping requirements or specialized pavement
and driveway restoration costs, the use of specialized drilling
equipment can be employed to limit surface disruption.
While use of this installation method is generally costlier per
foot than open cut trenching, specialized surface material
restoration may create a situation in some areas where open
trenching is cost prohibitive. Horizontal direction drilling
does not completely eliminate excavation as entry and exit
pits are required. Additionally, pits will need to be excavated
in locations where conduits make sweeps or connect to above
grade equipment. In general, horizontal directional drilling is
useful when installing conduits in a long straight line. There
is also the risk of hydrofracture (“Frac-Out”) when employing
the horizontal directional drilling method of installation.
TOWN-WIDE
OF of
UTILITIES
PROGRAM
Town-Wide UNDERGROUNDING
UNDERGROUNDING
Utilities
Program
MASTER
PLAN DOCUMENT
Document
MASTER PLAN
Hydrofracture causes areas
above the drilling location
to depress along the drilling
line along with the release of
drilling fluids to the surface.
Certain soil conditions and
shallow drilling depths increase
the likelihood of hydrofracture.
Careful planning for conduit
routing and deliberate decision
making regarding when it
is appropriate to employ
horizontal directional drilling
can mitigate the risk of
increased restoration costs.
Another method that can be
used to reduce restoration
costs, specifically paving costs,
is to share those costs with
other infrastructure project
needs in a given project area.
For this project, it is known
that the Town has separately
budgeted infrastructure projects
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ASSESSMENT | | 77
DATA
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