Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc. (BMEC) recently briefed the Shreveport city council on the progress made since becoming the consent decree project manager in mid July.
BMEC advised that all the bond work for phases 1 and 2 should be completed by year end.
BMRC held a contractor’s meeting the next day to review the plans for phase 3. A large crowd of over 100 contractors attended the meeting where they were briefed on the requirements for bids for the schedule of work.
Both Shreveport mayor Adrian Perkins and Fair Share coordinator Quinn Eubanks emphasized that it was mandatory for contractors to meet the 25 per cent Fair Share Program goal.
Adopted by the Shreveport city council in 1999, this program is designed to "level the economic playing field" for Shreveport businesses. The major intent of the program is to provide opportunities for companies and businesses to do business with the City of Shreveport where opportunities may not have existed in the past.
Shreveport’s Fair Share Ordinance encompasses small Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE), Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), and Women Business Enterprises (WBE).
Thirteen projects are listed in the phase 3 with a total estimated cost of $137 million. Five projects are for replacement (open cut/pipe burst) of 60,000 feet of sewer with estimated cost of $51 million. Seven projects are for rehabilitation (cured-in-place pipe lining) of 497,000 feet of sewer with an estimated total cost of $78 million. Seven lift stations are included with an estimated costs of $8 million.
BMEC emphasized that OSHA safety standards were incorporated into each contractor’s site-specific safety plan. BMEC hopes to use a collaborative scheduling process to assist contractor’s in developing baseline schedules and realistic schedule updates. Monthly project updates will be prerequisite for payments. Additionally, time impact analysis will be needed for potential time extensions on bid projects.
Restoration of the properties after construction was heavily emphasized. BMEC noted that restoration has been one of the most difficult issues in the consent decree work. New projects will have a 30 day time limit to complete all restoration. Final payment of contractors will be withheld until restoration is completed.