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Show Al2_ The Salt Lake Tribune_I-15 STATUS REPORT Sunday, December 27, 1998 that one of the most important quality controls built into the contract is that Wasatch Constructors will maintain, or “own,” the re constructed highwayforthefirst 10 years, In simple terms, this means that short of snow removal and line painting, Wasatch would have to take care of any problems, even @ Continued From A-1 sic sopping Utah spring could turn schedules to pulp Little of I-15’s innovative brew such as the $50 million in contrac. tor performancefees and the use of plastic geofoamblocksto speed soil settlement, is completely new But noneofit, especially the so- called “design-build” approach, which holds the contractor re- sponsible for everything from BY JOHN KEAHEY © 1998, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE problemsand defects should surface during that time, some in Wasatch Constructorsissues regular, glowing reports about its efforts to rebuild Inter- Because most serious maintenance agreement as a state 15 through the Salt Lake Valley. “Ahead of schedule, on budget,” goes the oft-repeated work. It encourages them to do a just as regularly showsits gratitude UDOTand Wasatch refer to the “guarantee” on the quality of high-quality job,” Holmgrensays because they're the ones who will have tofix it.” But the truth behind the guar- antee is more complicated, and somewhat less comforting. The four-year project in sight, a Salt “maintenance after construction agreement is morelike an extend- uncovered somepotential prob- is completed in July 2001, UDOT Lake Tribune investigation has lems with Utah's grand highway experiment, including a $27 million surpriseforstate legislators Processes meant to safeguardtax- payer moneyandprotect property owners along the reconstruc- tion route are at risk of being subverted by the project's No. 1 priority: speed. No one involved in the project denies the intense political pressure coming from the governor's office on down to stay on schedule The following is a simplified renew for each of the last five tion-appropriations oversight — including Rep. Marda Dillree, RFarmington, Rep. Ralph Becker. D-Salt Lake City, and Holmgren ing a price tag of $1.3 billion on UDOT Director Tom Warneacknowledged he hasn't briefed legislators on the maintenance mon- glorified — freeway repair Worse, between the time UDOT them, the department hadalready learned from its own consultants the job would cost $230 million morethan they hadjust persuad- ed the Legislatureto appropriate Manylegislators took the news of the additional costs badly But 1-15 officials explain that design-build proposals are a com- plex estimate — with flexibility the key. When UDOT decided to some advanced — and ex- pensive construction methods the Legislature could not be in- ey. “We are a couple of budget cycles away. It doesn’t kick in unfiscal year 2002 Although few 1-15 officials seemedstire of the warranty cost contract information obtained by The Tribune shows it is $27 mil- lion — if UDOT buys the entire package If the highway has more than 27 million in problems, Wasatch ‘onstructorsis bondedto provide it, But if the rebuilt highwayhas nosignificant maintenance problems — the balance of the $27 million becomes another incentive award to Wasatch penses, it also has the proposal process ‘A new highway, hopefully shouldn't require much mainte- But I-15’s Dave Downs saidthat the winner, Wasatch Construc. tors, didn't incorporate any of its competitors’ ideas. He defends thestipend as the only way to en sure quality proposals But what legislators. including those whoconsider themselves in- formedontheproject, appear not to have understood is that I-15 holds at least one more surprise cost, this one $27 million. I-15 officials like to explain nance,” won the contract. To save money and time, UDOT ordered Wasatch to use the “sealed” designs. It has AIR DUCT CLEANING ; Q ! a. ar | $149.95 | Ww hole House Package two of nine install- RU ot re- John Bourne for meeting periodic milestones while main- wards the company taining high quality, UDOTofficials say But the reality is that the project's first maJor structure to be completed — the 600 North interchange and viaduct in Salt Lake City — has serious problems. Concrete surfaces are rougher than specifications call for and soil Open only two months, these problems are AA A te cat Duct Pros 355-8719 See so F) TET ay Full Tax Deduction - Free Pickup No DMV Filing - No Smog Cert - Running or Not’ August. The soil under the new roadbed took each home. One rampopened in late September; the other three a month later. @Sound walls along the northbound of- framp were supposedto bein place in July But problems with crooked casings Wasatch crews placed along the ramp’s 40-foot-high re- ing andcan be fixed before the four-year pro- “They had problems when they poured the roadbed {last summer],” Bourne acknowledges. The concrete started drying teo quick- abandoned and left buried. Wasatch came up justed the mix and “they don’t expect these But don’t expect the 600 North problems to require such casings, but must wait until next serves a full payment with a new sound-wall design that does not notbeen settled exactly how much Wasatch will beresponsible for the quality of the sealed designs. UDOT is going onfaith that Wasatch will assume 100 percent responsi bility Another D-B innovation is taking qualitycontrol of the project out of the hands of a small army of state inspectors and turningit over to the the experiment. culty adaptingto their new roles underdesign-build. Strange Bedfellows: Under “This is one of cutting-edge management ap- proaches known as “teaming, ” partnering” and “co-locating,” early consultant to UDOT on the project. Wasatch Constructors, UDOT and many of their private consultants “If there is anything that will be re-evaluated after this are not only housed under the project is finished, it will be the sameroofnear the Salt LakeCity And again, many of the law- staffs are “integrated.” Whether they get their pay- award-fee system.” International makers who found the perfor- satch’s quality-controlsystem will andprudent cost overcome any problems The strength and weakness of the award Carrot Without the Stick: partsin theI-15 projectis the Constructors em is that Wasatch carefully crafted bid requires the company win virtually every dime of the award $50 million “performanceawardfee kage. As the most recent ofthe ever-evolving UDOT kinds ofproblemselsewhere on the project,” Bournesays. the most troubling parts of the project.” says Larry Becknell, an construction company One of the most controv ly, leading to to the roughness. Wasatch ad- noreit. And weare continuing to get an improved product.” Still, people on both sides are unhappywith the awards part of Procedure Manual” explains, the fees “are a provenincentivethat provides a positive approach to rewarding better than average mance award fee system so enticing maynotrecognize the system as it has evolved. The most recent struction Project.” UDOTsays this cooperative ef- wardedfor “better than average” work and sets “construction mile- fort is moreefficient. A UDOTofficial only has to walk to a Wa- stones” for theproject; the applistraightforward cation of these standardsis less satch Constructors manager's office to straighten out a problem. Bourne and Downs said that the awards can be won even if Wa- But someobserversfear it could prove little too cozy. ‘There has always been a con- satch doesn’t strictly achieve ontime concrete-and-steel ‘‘out- cern as to whether this was good cooperative problem-solving comes.” Instead, Wasatch is expected to prove it has in place method,” effective quality-control “systems and processes” to bring the outject end date Downs emphasizesall substan- satch Constructors] couldn't ig- ed at once. Downssays this criticism comes from a tiny minority of UDOT personnel who are having diffi- to compelthe problembecorreet- “'Is it a lit- but admits sharing an office has dard work will be corrected. This reduced performance awards, Under the old-fashioned sys- says Dillree. tle bit too close of a relationship for the state to get the scrutiny youneedinthis process?” Bast supports the team system, comesabout beforethe 2001 pro- tem, theinspectors had the power before °99 price ene Colello | its psychological ramifications whenit comesto giving a negative evaluation that could mean hundreds of thousands in awards fees. “It can bevery difficult,” ad mits Al Bast Asyet, the I-15 teamhasn't had to face that issue. Wasatch Constructors has won thevast major- ity of nearly $8 million in award fees madeavailableso far. Uegad 5 Repairing Any Frame Damage Aeesr Re] daee) Quality America’s #1 iS ert LoCo)ae Co) you better than new! MASTE =. Hf icin e aC MUeuery LS uy or) 10 year written guarantee CT AYR G TI He SCs ror 2700 So. 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Install an ADTsystem now,for aslittle as $99, Save even more when youpay by credit card. wwwadt.com but the Constructors, or private consulting firms, everybody's business card reads simply “I-15 Recon- “Awards Fee Procedures Man- approachallows Wasatchtocatch up andeven still win missed or Airport, check from the state, Wasatch ual” says the awards will be re- fees to make a profit. Under these conditions, work becomes the minimumrequired We intentionally did that, says Downs. “We madethe number large enough that they [Wa- “Award Fee UNDETECTABLE HEARINGAID... Something so tiny, but so Audible! || surface roughness — are not contract-break. ject ends. taining wall on the highway’s east side forced a redesign. Those casings were filled with concrete. 800-767-0258 ._°161_ || $420_| won't win an award for smoothness,” says UDOT’s Bourne. But, he points out, the problems — lack of sound walls, excessive pavementsettlement. paid in full, that award will total $5 million. UDOTofficials said earlier this month they have not yet evaluated whether Wasatch de- Utah Council of the Blind has helped blind people become more productive in the workplace since 1972 “In-the-Ear" at 600 North and their continued penchant to pay regular performance awards, agree problemsexist. “Concrete work on 600 North is average. It longerthan expectedto settle, and whenit did, it also settled under at least six nearby homes, cracking foundations and interior walls. It is costing Wasatch upwardsof $10,000 to repair Cars, Trucks, Vans, Boats, RV's, Trailers and more I jackhammered outand replaced. UDOTofficials, asked about the problems summerof 1997, was supposed to be open in 1 Reupholster Now!Wg 1 _—_ -Upito-20ventas To OnCaer 16th of an inch,officials say, and UDOTwill take core samples to make sure specified depths are maintained @ Within days of the opening this pastfall, sectionsof concrete poured wherethe viaduct touches down at 400 West sunk nearly onehalf inch because of super-wetsoil. Sometime next spring, those sections will have to be therefore tied to cash payments. “You get more creative when uu [could lose performance-award money UDOT spokeswoman LindsayFerra Consider the following: |The interchange, shut down during the Dillree says. of D-B is that with less back and forth, it candeliver a highway fast — and, in fact, has been used for small emergency projects in some states — but never anything anywherenearthe scaleof I-15. Onepotential hitch looms Parts of the project, including the troubled 600 North interchange. were designed before Wasatch springto grind downthe bumpy surface. Such grinding is routine in major road projects, in- avoidedif it were considered a milestone and paid $7.49 million out of $7.5 million itself. And this, some UDOTinsiders complain, is potentially a Sen. John Holmgren, R-Bear Brave New World: Overseas problem. River City, who helps oversee and toa lesser degree inthe Unit. 1-15 Contract Adtransportation appropriations ed States, the design-build (D-B) ministration Manager says the $950,000stipendpaid to concept of high procurement has Al Bast admits that ; each company just to makea bid been gaining favorover thetradi- one of the weak points Ml EF andproposals, was hard for many tional “design-bid-build” ap- in early D-B projects legislators to swallow proach David Downsis the Utah Departmentof was dueto poor quali But “that was oneof the beau Under D-B. the contractors ty-control oversight Transportation's I-15 projectdirector. ties of this process,” Holmgren don't “bid” on a highway project. But he andother [-15 says. “Wepaid almost a million They instead make an overall officials say that safeguards, such performance.” The manual exdollars to eachbidder just to have proposal,” which includes the as tying quality control to the plains that the award fee is won the right to use thebest of their design, construction and qualityawardsfee evaluation andcareful for meeting the project goals ideas control programs. The advantage independent monitoring of Wa- timely performance, quality work formed about the cost increases without violating theintegrityof Heavy machinery must be broughtin next payers. It is our [UDOT’s] role to make sure the driving public is safe” until repairs can be made. “And, it is.” fact, they say they made various surfaces an eighth-inch deeper than specifications called for in case grinding was necessary. Most grinding will only have to remove a largely unnoticed by motorists. Ironically, Wasatch is geared up to accept another per. formance-award paymentin early January. If included a lump sum of money @ Portionsof the pavement alongthe north- purposes, the reopeningsof other major interchangesare,including the 500 South onramp settlement has damaged nearby homes. Dillree says engineerJim Toole. bound offramp and on segmentsoftheinterchangeandviaductfail to meetstringent Utah Departmentof Transportation “smoothness” standards. and 600 South offramp. Meanwhile, the 600 North complex has had a range of problems that might have been extended warranty was included in theoriginal $1.6billion price I didn't understandthis option using larger casings,” acknowledges project I-15 project. It only looks at whether Wasatch has the “processes” in place to detect problems; not at the problems themselves. He characterizes Wasatch’s 600 North issues as “minor, in the grand scheme of things. They cost Wasatch moneytofix; not Utah tax. was not a milestone for performance-award — and at least one former I-15 consultant to UDOTsaid they had always understoodthe cost of this : to Wasatch to cover construction ex- Not only does the monthly payments mance award. The award yearsup toa total of 10 Legislators with transporta- ; “The mistake we made [in placing soundwall casings that got knocked ajar] wasin not department make ments toward a $50 million ‘‘perfor- lar five-year plan with options to “The awardfeeis not structured to look at sist UDOTofficials and Wasatch engineers. In der which Wasatch Constructors does most maintenanceor a simi- nanceoptions: a 10-year plan un- springto build. affect the performance award. end results, except specific milestones,” says John Bourne, UDOT’s deputydirector of the While the timely reopening of 600 North possible in the first Sticker Shock: Anylawmaker — particularly a Utah fiscal con- asked for proposals on I-15 reconstruction and actually opened The Utah Department of Transportation must choose one of two mainte- tag on the project. It isn’t. what amounts to an overdue — if mantra ed warranty. Before the highway guide to the innovations — some heralded and othersveiled — that have become critical to the suc cess of the I-15 Reconstruction servative — gets queasywhensee. UDOTawarding bonuses despite problemswith I-15 construction potholes and cracks, for the next decade. highway design to qualitycontrol, has been tried on this immense a scale. With the halfwaypoint of the Project Hits Some Bumps — Builder’s Payday Doesn't I I I I I L oe ee Oe Innovation On I-15 Has Fans, Critics [ Call forSpecial| Business Offer. |
