HomeMy WebLinkAbout09.a.1)a) General Manager Reportsq.a.l)u)
Central Contra Costa Sanitary District
August 3, 2010
File 5932.51.5.5
TO: HONORABLE BOARD OF DIRECTORS /
VIA: JAMES M. KELLY, GENERAL MANAGER '!
ANN E. FARRELL, DIRECTOR OF ENGINE RIN ~~ 1.~.
FROM: TAD J. PILECKI, CAPITAL PROJECTS DIVISION MANAIGER ~~
SUBJECT: CONSTRUCTION/RIGHT-OF-WAY CHALLENGES ON THE HALL
DRIVE SEWER RENOVATIONS, PHASE 2B, DP 5932
The Board of Directors awarded the construction of the subject project to
McNamara and Smallman Construction, Inc. at the May 20, 2010, Board
meeting. During the course of construction, staff has encountered two significant
challenges dealing with right-of-way (R/V1/) acquisition and with an incorrect
design elevation. Each of these issues is discussed below.
Included in the project was approximately 580 feet of line relocation at the
Camino Encinas site (near downtown Orinda). At the time of award, RNV staff
was hopeful that all necessary property rights would be secured prior to
construction. Unfortunately, staff was unable to acquire property rights from two
owners needed to construct the project, therefore, this site will be deleted from
the current project and staff will pursue the appropriate course of action to obtain
the needed property rights. This course of action will likely include
condemnation, due to the reluctance of these two property owners to accept an
equitable offer. The Camino Encinas site will be incorporated into a renovation
project scheduled for construction in 2011.
The second issue deals with an incorrect design elevation and the potential
consequential financial issues. After installing approximately 380 feet of sewer
utilizing directional drilling, staff discovered that the elevation that the new sewer
was designed and installed at could not serve one of the properties by gravity.
The existing lateral serving this property has two cleanouts. Staff assumed that
the downslope cleanout was the appropriate location/elevation for tie-in of the
new service lateral. In reality, this cleanout was approximately 2-feet higher than
the cleanout adjacent to the house. The mast cost effective/timely solution was
determined to be the installation of a new drilled line at a lower elevation.
Fortunately, since the contract with McNamara and Smallman is a unit price
contract, and approximately 150 feet of directional drill line installation was
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Honorable Board of Directors
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August 3, 2010
deleted due to the dropping of the Camino Encinas site (above), staff was able to
proceed with a change order within staff authority. Before this change order was
approved, the General Manager sought and received the Capital Projects'
committee concurrence with this approach, as it reduced the District's exposure
to a delay claim.
A potentially significant financial issue could have occurred if the change order
had been beyond staff's authority. The District could have incurred
consequential financial damages (delay claims, extended overhead,
remobilization, etc.) associated with the time delay between the event occurrence
and the Board's approval of the change order. In August, this could be almost
four weeks. For larger projects, such as last year's A-Line Relief Interceptor,
Phase 2A project or the current CSO Administration, Crew, and Warehouse
Facility Project, these consequential financial damages could represent
significant dollars.
Although these types of situations do not occur frequently, staff does feel it would
be prudent for the Board to adopt a procedure to avoid these consequential
financial damages. Since the $50,000 change order threshold is set by the
Board and not mandated by any statute or law, staff will develop some
alternatives for Board consideration in the near future.
TJ P/cb
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