Roadway Restoration Project – St. Bernard Parish, LA

This project marked the first of several design-bid-build project delivery methods for post Hurricane Katrina FEMA funded recovery work in St. Bernard Parish (SBP). Royal was contracted to engineer, design, and provide construction management (CM) services for all Parish roads located in these zones. This project included restoration of all concrete and asphalt roadways, including associated infrastructure (i.e., sidewalks, driveways, drainage, sewer, and water) that suffered damage in SBP during Hurricane Katrina and during the recovery process. The restoration of the roadways and infrastructure was limited to Parish roadways and did not include State and Federal Roadways.

Approximately 50 miles of roadway are anticipated to be replaced according to State and Federal Standards. Royal’s initial responsibilities were to perform an inventory of all damaged roadways and associated infrastructure and produce a reconnaissance report to FEMA on behalf of SBP. Our report and statements of probable cost to restore these parish roadways were developed and compared with the FEMA provided cost estimates. The intent was to develop a balanced construction cost estimate to allow for a realistic FEMA PW value for the roadway repairs in SBP.

In addition to the preliminary work with FEMA and SBP, Royal prepared eleven complete sets of construction contract documents with an estimated construction value of $58 Million. Royal then led the public bid process and provided its recommendations of award for the lowest responsive bidder to SBP.

Preconstruction Services: Royal’s engineering and CM responsibilities during the Preconstruction phase consisted of planning and coordination with the general contractor (GC), starting with a Preconstruction meeting with all project associated personnel. This was followed by a technical review of all proposed construction material submittals by the GC to verify as sufficient according to the plans and specs.

The construction contract type was a unit price contract and was driven by work orders that were issued to the contractor for a specific segment of road work. Royal developed all work orders that were derived from SBP’s prioritized list of roadways in immediate need of repair. Our team of inspectors produced detailed field drawings of the roadway panels, sidewalks, drive aprons, handicap ramps, and curb paying close attention to the conditions of the sewer manholes and storm sewer catch basins that would need adjustment and/or full replacement. Take-offs were then produced by quantifying the repair work from the field drawings and loaded into our cost estimating software to produce the estimated work order values. Royal then developed a baseline schedule to measure against the contractors to identify a reasonable timeline to complete construction of the work that existed in the work order. Upon issuance of the work order, Royal’s inspectors monitored the preconstruction video services that were recorded prior to mobilization by the contractor. Royals’ contract documents included detailed technical specifications for preconstruction video recordings and our team of inspectorsassured SBP that they were produced accordingly, greatly minimizing deficiencies in the end product and protecting SBP from unjust legal responsibility down the road.

Construction Services: During construction, Royal’s project team consisted of two major components; 1. Office Management(OM) Team, and 2. Field Management (FM) Team. The OM team was led by the Project manager (PM). The FM team was led by the senior construction manager (SCM).

Royal’s customary use of the critical path and earned value management systems allowed the PM and his assistants to ensure that the key issues of cost, time, quality and above all, client satisfaction, were realized for this project. The OM team was responsible for monitoring and controlling the schedule and budget, and for providing monthly updates to reflect current status against the original baselines. Reports were generated for monthly progress meetings to review with our client (SBP) and the contractor to determine ways of compressing the construction schedule by fast-tracking or crashing in order to meet major milestones and work order completion dates, avoiding the enforcement of liquidated damages. In summary, the OM team’s primary role was complete project administration of the construction contract for the duration of the project, including the official closeout procedures.

The FM team was led by Royal’s SCM who oversaw all construction related activities, managed our field engineers/inspectors and verified all monthly progress payments from the contractor for accuracy. Critical to the SCM’s role is the daily inspection of all construction to ensure all road work is built according to the plans and specs. The SCM’s responsibilities and duties included quick decision making with regards to adding additional repair work to the pre-existing work order, and communicating effectively with FEMA representatives on behalf of SBP to gain eligibility for cost reimbursement to the Parish. The SCM was also responsible to implement and monitor the Safety and Quality Assurance (QA) plans as developed internally during the preliminary phase.

The second level of the FM team are the Field Engineers (FE) who inspect and report daily to the SCM on all construction activities. Their primary focus is to assure the client (SBP) that they are getting exactly what they bargained for in their contract with the GC. Royal’s FE’s are on-site at all times when construction is active. They have authority to stop work, report deficiencies that usually result in removal and replacement by the GC, and make decisions with regards to certain circumstances that arise during construction (ex. directing the GC to remove unsuitable base after breaking out the above concrete road section). In addition to monitoring construction, Royals FE’s developed the work order drawings in the field and often quantified the materials on preliminary take-off forms.

Prior to issuing substantial completion to the GC for each work order, Royal’s FM team performed a thorough walk-through with its client to identify items of work that were unsatisfactory by creating a punch list. The FE’s coordinated with the contractor to make sure these punch list items were addressed before moving on to the next definable feature of work. The FE’s redlined the work order drawings to reflect modifications or adjustments during construction. These drawings served as record/as-built drawings that were provided to SBP in the closeout phase. In summary, the FM team’s primary role was to provide constructability reviews to identify any design flaws early on and to provide quality control/quality assurance through every phase of the project.

Project Closeout: Because of its critical importance, Royal plans for closeouts from the beginning. During this phase, direction is turned back to the OM team. Royals OM team developed a data matrix that structured the sequence and items required during closeouts, identified by the parties responsible and deliverable dates. The PM kept a close eye on the accounting adjustments from change orders and amendments by keeping an organized log in preparation of the final schedule of values that was produced at project completion. Royal’s OM team gathered all closeout documentation from the GC and developed a final change order to account for the statement of cost under runs for the completion of this construction contract.

As a final phase of the program, Royal has been tasked with the assessment of all work previously granted ineligibility through the governing agency which currently fit the changed criteria for replacement. The final project has been bid, awarded, and currently commencing with construction. Royal is also tasked with the construction administration and inspection for this final project within the program. Royal has inspected the drainage infrastructure throughout St. Bernard Parish (SBP) and managed over 5,500 linear feet of emergency drainage repairs. Construction Cost: $58,000,000