Archive
¡Ayyy – El yoyo es grande!
EDC SolarWall®
I have volunteered to be the coordinator for security issues on site to ensure that all relevant info is checked and logged through the security office. This seemed simple enough until it turned out that some employees are not US citizens and apparently this creates a tidal wave of bureaucracy….something I can relate to. I think it might be more appropriate for me to form a support group instead, offering the benefit of my own experience.
The required structural changes for the SolarWall® had to come out at a zero cost (the Client can’t go back to the government cap in hand for more money without creating a fuss). The way around this is to parcel the project into ‘options’ whereby the bulk of the work can be achieved in the face of varying requirements, meaning that one or more of the options can be tweaked to make sure the project comes in at the allocated budget. This must be one of those fudges that people have found to try and make the most out of the system. The Client has requested that the proposed supports for the wall are to be covered in the same material as the existing building. As a result the last wall now has less coverage to pay for the modification. Changing stuff is all well and good – but it needs to be done the right way under the contract. This means either an ‘Equitable Adjustment’ or a ‘Request for Proposal’. RFP is pending.
Now that I am getting into the Resident Management System (RMS) I identified a few housekeeping issues that needed to be rectified (proof of insurance and bonds, cost variations between schedules and turn around times for submittals. I envisage more will follow as I continue to get to grips with the system. It was interesting to see how the contractor shuffles the funds to fit his changing schedule.
DDSP Buildings 732 / 760
Reviewed the PMP again as they still have not made amendments that were submitted. It is USACE policy that every project will have a PMP. The result is that project engineers appear to see this as an additional hurdle to jump through and pay lip service to it. What is the point in not identifying risks as part of the PMP? By not identifying the risks they avoid having to do more work on the PMP but completely negate the whole purpose of it. The PMBP manual has arrived and a copy should be with PEW soon. I will likely be asked to review other PMPs in the near future.
Ashley Reservist Center
I am revising my report for consumption by the contractor in relation to defects on site. I was asked to remove some of the solutions to the problems as we don’t want to do the contractor’s work for them. This was immediately after mentioning that we’re meant to be in a partnering relationship with them…..
It now also turns out the contractor has taken cores through foundation slabs to fit conduits that they had forgotten place previously. They have cut through rebar and we now need to remedy. If anyone has any top tips or resources on this it would be much appreciated.
Training
I had the pleasure of sitting in on the USACE anti terrorism training. This was a recording of the presentation that was given last year by a very nervous lady. The take home quote was ‘Don’t do any work for anybody in exchange for cash or other payments…[mumble – pause]…unless it’s your actual job.’
Trench safety presentations were completed in less than 20 minutes……take note John!
Hablando Español
There are issues with a contractor’s subbie not paying his workers the correct amount. Part of what we do is police these sort of issues and once identified we have to investigate. Frustratingly for the girl who has to process this, the majority of the workforce was Hispanic and do not speak any English. Having received feedback (in Spanish) I called some of the workers to clarify and translate a bunch of questionnaires for processing. This is likely to be a recurring topic.
Other News
Ulli has had yet another episode in the MVA (DVLA) almost resulting in flaming torches and pitch-forks.
Had a great Memorial weekend where I learned to ride a 2-wheeled skateboard contraption, discovered that we do actually have some neighbours who aren’t miserable old farts, and it all ended in the shooting (and subsequent death) of a rooster.
SSP project will simply not die…
Current situation with Steam Sterilisation Plant.
We have now gotten to a bit of a Mexican standoff with the SSP.
Pretty much all the work on site has been finished, however due to the modification that will have to be made to the design, to correct the problems encountered during testing, we cannot hand the plant over.
Due to the fact that the plant is a large and complex steam system it cannot simply be “turned off and locked up” until the design of the modification has been completed and is ready to be implemented, as the various seals and gaskets will fail on restart.
Grimberg, the lead contractor are clearly in the best place to maintain the system on tick-over as they are fully aware of its quirks, and also it keeps all responsibility with them should there be anything wrong. They have been asked to provide a per diem quote for the caretaking of the plant for a couple of months, and they are clearly aware of the strong position that they are in.
The quote that Grimberg offered and their lack of negotiation flexibility has offended the senior management so much that they have been told to P@SS OFF, and get all their staff/trailers off site. This clearly makes the situation more tense, and a lot more difficult to get the last few bits of work out of Grimberg (namely O&M manuals, which Grimberg seems to be hoping will go away and compost under a desk somewhere, it is requiring quite a lot of very specific feedback, but I am still managing to maintain an amicable relationship with Grimberg’s PM).
In the end I expect that some agreement will be found as it makes no sense to “spoil the ship for a hapeth of tar, ” and also the people that we will almost certainly get to do the work of the modification will be Grimberg, so we do need to keep some working relationships with them.
This is an interesting study into the final throws of the lifecycle of a project, and really indicates the importance of a sound tendering process which fully evaluates all project possibilities, and gets quotes for these as well as the expected work. However no matter how much foresight is applied there will be the unforeseeable and clients/budget holders must have their expectations managed, especially on such a complicated/experimental job.
Other things that I have been working on:
Liquid Nitrogen Cryovent system. USAMRIID
We have managed to get to a solution that is acceptable to all sides with the question of the industry standards of a Cryovent system. We will be using pre-insulated copper piping, the exact placement of the vents will be made by the Cryo Associates and shown on shop drawings. We are acknowledging that this is a change, and paying for the upgrade for copper to pre-insulated copper, realistically this won’t amount to much as the installation cost will be similar ball park. This solution was rushed to due to the necessity of allowing the work to move forward, and these areas be closed in.
Close-in inspections USAMRIID.
We have conducted various close-in inspections, at which we have found things ranging from the stud being cut through to allow a pipe to be placed, to holes in the firewall, to pipes not being fixed for more than 5m of run, and so swinging like pendulum. It does appear that MTJV try at every turn to use the USACE as their quality control, and just see what gets through.
Backward placed heat exchanger USAMRIID.
One of the heat exchangers in the USAMRIID was placed fully back-to-front, apparently “because it was easier to get it in that way, and it doesn’t make any difference anyway.” Whilst it is true that it makes no real difference it has been noticed and mentioned higher up to the client and so now needs has to be corrected for a political rather than engineering viewpoint, no skin off our nose, but the subcontractor is hurting.
On site tests : Pressure Tests of air handling units, Ducting and compressed gas systems.
Every system that is being installed has to be pressure tested to ensure they meet the rigorous standards required for bio-containment, this is really quite a significant undertaking on its own. The process involves a centrifugal pump with a baffle plate that can change the airflow. The airflow in measured accurately by the use of a calibrated orifice plate, and the pressure achieved in the duct is measured by a U tube Manometer. It all looks pretty Heath-Robinson but it works effectively. Dependant on the length (and thus area) of duct being tested an allowable flow rate is calculated.
Pall Filters meetings.
The discussion with PALL filters is still rumbling on, as it appears that testing/maintenance of the filter skids without the use of Isopropyl alcohol will be difficult, however the client is reticent at allowing IPA use due to the fire risk etc. We have coordinated various meetings between the client and PALL to see if a solution to the problem can be found.
Off site tests: HEPA filter skid – Factory acceptance testing.
There are various tests of the equipment before it is installed onsite. This is a HEPA filter skid that is due to be used in many areas of the USAMRIID building. Due to the knowledge gained previously working with PALL filters on slightly similar skids in the SSP we visited the local factory where they make the stainless steel components and assemble the skid. Impressively they had mounted the pressure gauges the wrong way round, and we could see other more significant design problems which would make the maintenance difficult. It is great to be able to catch these early, and so keep the project as a whole running more smoothly.
Officer Professional development day
Attending an Officer Professional Development day was a good opportunity to meet the other uniformed officers who operate within the district. It did hammer home what a civilian organisation the Corp of Engineers really is, and how few uniformed personnel they actually have.
Also of interest
Memorial Day.
Memorial Day is the equivalent to Remembrance Day, however the Americans really go all out for it. It is a national holiday and pretty much each town has a parade of some sort. We went into Washington DC to watch their parade. It went on for a continuous 2 hours mostly made up of high school marching bands, and only at the very end actual military guys. There were thousands of people out in support along both sides of the main street in Washington DC for a stretch of 2 miles. Also Buzz Aldrin was there on a float. It was an amazing show.
Muscle Car Weekend
Matt, Ulli, Rob, Robin, (his Girlfriend), Sarah and I all attended a Muscle Car weekend at Ocean City; a collection of hundreds of absolutely amazing cars, with more BHP than weight in KGS. They really shift, and they were doing unofficial burnouts in the high street, fine in the early evening but it does begin to get a little tiresome at 0300. It also really showed how much time and money people were willing to spend on their hobbies out here, the cars were literally shined to within an inch of their lives, and some were up for sale, showing price tags around the $50000 – $100000
Home Brew.
We have got a home brew set from the shop just down the road, and are trying this out (we will keep you posted…), it makes the house smell like a brewery!
Queens Diamond Jubilee
I am trying to get the Americans a bit excited about the Jubilee, but oddly they don’t seem as interested by this as they were by the royal wedding!
Sarah’s work visa.
Sarah has finally got a work visa through, and now has a Social Security Number, and so is finally in a position to get a job. Hopefully all the networking she has been doing will rapidly pay off and she will find a good job.
Heat and humidity.
The heat and humidity are really jacking up, now as soon as you do anything physical you break a real sweat.
Week 8, Ubique. 21st – 25th May 2012
All over the place this week as the title suggests.
Lifting Appreciation Training. This course was an introduction to moving things offshore, and included LOLER standards, lift planning, rigging, and practical exercises; it’s easy to forget that in the offshore environment you can’t just drive forks everywhere and so rigging is used far more than I had imagined. Indeed, for BP, a person is not allowed to lift anything above 20kg and so other means are standard practice. The practical exercises included establishing rigging systems for moving things (in this case a dummy motor) through an area with beams and pipes in the way; and also playing with a 40 tonne pillar crane.
Figure 1. Operating the pillar crane.
Maximo Work Management One Day Essentials. This was an essential course teaching me how to raise work orders and requisitions. What I found interesting were the teaching methods; lots of magnetic labels to position in a team, and also good use of IT so we could all work on the software on a simulated database. If only JPA was taught so well… Oh, and the handouts were issued on a memory stick at the end of the course. I love civvies!
Runcorn kick off meeting. And the ETAP project is under Appraisal! Finally held teh meeting so that the study can now get under way to estimate the costs of ALQ on ETAP. What they can’t do, however, is work out the operating costs, so there’s still a lot of work for me to do on that. Still fighting through the red tape to get my flight booked offshore, but that will happen with time.
Design Work. Had a good chat to some of our (WG PSN) engineers to see if I can get involved with some in-depth technical design, so I can be 100% sure to tick off competencies A and B. The two lads there (the team should be six!) are both chartered through IMechE so know the score and it will be good to work with them. Interestingly, Ish’s engineer for the LPBC exhausts has just been moved by WG PSN, so I might be filling in that role!
In other news. Damaged my calf in a race, so resting that at the moment before the two marathonesque races that face me over the next month. Open water swimming is still proving to be awesome although the most recent places were quite tame, taking the form of sheltered lochs; cycling is giving me some sharp tan lines, even this far North. Liz is now fully trained as Adjt and looking forward to lead elements of 39 moving up in June. The Waterbeach summer ball was good fun but not the epic that it was a few years back, where I first met Steve and Faye…
Weeks 10 & 11 – 14-25 May – Pandemonium is just the beginning
Over the last couple of weeks since returning to Curtis Island after paternity leave my world has largely been turned upside down. Firstly was the decision to move me from the Jetty to the MOF project without any sort of discussion. PM decision in isolation. It was probably the right one but completely out of the blue and found out third hand….sound familiar to anyone?!?!?
Week 11 was spent trying to gain control of my areas but the incumbent engineer didn’t want to let go very easily. I spent most of the week shadowing him and trying not to upset the apple cart.
Week 12 however was a bit different. From Monday this week I was in the hot seat, my inbox filling up with 30-40 emails a day about stuff I had no idea about. Steep learning curve and by Wednesday I was starting to drown. That said, it’s now Friday and I’ve got my head above the water and I am starting to make my mark where required.
The MOF project is behind schedule, over budget and has serious challenges that need overcoming. I will not dwell on them as they’re not in my remit but they have serious knock on effects across the whole project. What is an issue though is the lack of coherent communication across the staff and then transferring any of it to the work force. Major issue and I am already investing time to rectify this where I can. There is a small “good ideas club” that seem to be talking a lot but doing very little at the management level and it all gets dumped on the junior engineers. Not good for them and it is clearly visible how low their morale is. A bit of Serevena banter helps but only papers over the cracks.
In terms of responsibilities, my portfolio has gradually expanded over the week to now include the following:
All king pile wall capping beam construction including reinforcement, concreting, formwork, temporary work platforms, permits, dewatering, pile cages, tie bars, cardan joints, etc
Anything to do with reinforcement.
Anything to do with concrete.
Finishing off the second bulk aggregate barge ramp and abutment.
Flood light footings.
There is more than just the above but it covers most of it. Overall I am now happier in terms of the work BUT I am being worked doubly hard and have so far missed the ferry 3 nights this week having to catch a later one. Not an issue but pulling a 15 hour day is tiring for me and not great support for Lisa.
Apart from the above I have hosted the CI and John Reddie on their whirlwind tour of Australia and been keeping up with the coursework schedule. Not much time for fun stuff but this weekend we’re heading to a local festival for some decent family time.
It’s all got a little punchy… 7 May – 20 May 12
Period Covered 7 May – 20 May 12
Summary: It’s all got a little punchy…
I’ve had a great few weeks on site which has mainly been due to my growing role and responsibilities which has opened me up to a number of experiences, meetings and decisions which has widened my understanding about how the project is run, the relationship with the client and commercial awareness.
This has meant I have felt pretty busy with my site work, CI’s Visit and TMR but I am sure no different to anyone else at the moment!! Finally there are now some real issues growing on site and some big decisions that need be made very soon.
During this period I have completed the following:
• Participation in Post Tensioning 90% Design Review
• Contractor Database search and encouraged companies to bid for Northern Superstructure Post Tensioning work. (Cold calling and ppt brief) • Written the Post Tensioning Tender Plan which has been submitted to the client for approval. This included Schedule G – Scope of Works and a review of Schedule H – Standard Sub Contractor requirements.
• Organised and chaired “industry discussions” with Post Tension Subcontractor for Value Engineering work shop. • Senior Engineer for Dewatering Tender Review meeting with Client
• Written Work Risk Assessment for Dewatering Work • Completed Safety Paperwork Preparation for Dewatering Subcontractor arrival on Site (expect 29 May 12)
• CI Visit
• Pre Pour inspections and pour supervision
• Pre Start Briefs
Work on site. So with a lot of hard work, Sunday work and careful micromanagement of the subcontractors the service tunnel is on track to be handed over on time (28 May). The progress has been rapid and I have been impressed with how quickly the blockwork walls and the reinforced concrete roof have been constructed. Syphon A has also now been completed so there should not be a requirement for anymore emergency pumping out!! However, in contrast to this progress has slowed/stopped in many other areas.
A summary of where this is and the reasons is below:
All excavation in the basement. The capping beams and chimney are monitored for excessive movement and today the surveyors raised the issue that they had recorded excessive movement and the top of the 60m chimney. We are now investigating the cause of this (there is debate about how much the excavation is causing and how much is temperature differential). In the meantime no more excavation is allowed in the basement. I am getting involved with this problem as I think it has the potential to be fascinating issue…however if I can not solve it with freebody diagrams I may need some outside assistance!!
Piling of Zone 7. This area is right next to the service slip lane, with the final 10 piles approx. 2m lower than the slip road. Whilst excavating the sub contractor noticed the road base falling into the excavation and so work was stopped. A combination of shuttering and grout injection aims to fix this, but this has caused a 7 day delay.
Piling of Zone 8. This area is right next to the site fence which backs onto a pedestrian footpath and a bus stop. John Holland understood that when we got ownership of this area (5 April 2012) that we would have access right up to the road. The client argues this was never the case. The up shot is that piling in this area has been delayed whilst John Holland has put together 4 COAs. The client is taking its timing deciding which is its preferred option. This has meant a 10 day delay (and counting) on this area.
Staircore 3. A rapid redesign of the piles for Stair Core 3 occurred last week as the torsional loadings were revised. This resulted in 9 new piles being required, and extra 7 days of work. This has now been completed.
The real result of all these delays is not just the effect on the Piling Contractor but on the Pile Cropping/Trimming teams and the Capping Beams team. Both of these sub contractors had just inducted serious numbers of people in preparation for the increased work load. However with these delays there has been a lack of work and these labourers have found employment elsewhere and are unlikely to return to the project. This is real problem, as Subcontractors are unhappy and there could be a lack of inducted personnel available when there is work! Fingers Crossed these issues are resolved quickly so work can continue at the pace we are used to.
MORE PHOTOS:
Areas of Site where work has been delayed
My Experience.
So my work as a supervisor has officially ended, this was an excellent way of introducing me to the project, sub contractors and the John Holland Systems whilst in a position to pick up decent engineering work when it arose. I am now fulfilling my Engineer role and since then I have not stopped. Being the lead for the post tensioning work has been excellent, as I will see the $3 million worth of work go from my initial thoughts on what should go in the scope of works right through to delivery on site.
This has given me exposure to the contract administrator team who I am working with approximately 1 day a week and hands on experience of the tender process. I am sure I will have a lot more to write about once comments come back from the client (the state) on my tender plan, but so far so good!!
As part of the post tensioning work I attended a 90% design review with the structural designers and the client to discuss the Post Tensioning work for the Northern Superstructure. The technical side to this was interesting but not as interesting as the commercial aspect. In what I think is a very weird decision John Holland is being allowed to bid as the “builder” for the Northern Superstructure works package and thus to ensure probity there are some very funny restrictions in place about who can talk to who about what…the result being to ensure John Holland doesn’t have an unfair advantage compared to the other sub contractors who are bidding to build the work. Hmmmm, if you were a company would you bother to bid if you know the company managing the build is putting in a tender….anyway I played the values and standards of a British Army Officer down to a tee which was well received by the retired Australian Defence Force Officer, now probity officer!!
The other project taking up my time is being the lead engineer for the dewatering work on site. In the last week this has involved a couple of pretty hostile meetings with the client, where they seemed to forget all the meetings and dialogue we had up until that point and I had explain why, where, what and how once again. The upshot of these meeting was that I was ordered to do another option study of an option which was discounted a month ago – this option (using an inaccessible sewer) being the least environmentally friendly and most expensive option again..48hours later, we have agreed my original plan is the one they should sign up to!!!!! We still need to get the contract across the line but it looks like we are there now and my focus is ensuring the site is ready for their arrival.
(As an aside, I have been spending a lot of my time liaising with local councils, water companies and other drainage providers to arrange permission and licences for the dewatering, Dan K tells me that this is covered on the E&M course, it might be worth bolting this lesson onto the Civil dewatering lessons?)
Further Work
• Tender Plan Review meeting with the Client to discuss Post Tensioning
• Meeting with dewatering subcontractor to ensure all preparations are ready for start on site
• Safe, Quality and Enviro Safe Systems of work co-ordinator for Dewatering
• Involvement in new pedestrian footpath
Meet the new spokesperson for the Corps!
EDC Solarwall
Have been doing my utmost to corral the the USACE team to turn some submissions around in double time to help the contractor get back on schedule (To show willing and to slap them with when/if they start letting us down on submittals.) On the whole – a good response except from the Client who chinned this off all together…..well it’s their money I suppose.
Ashley Reservist Centre
Investigations on concrete issues on loading ramp led me to spot that another blob of concrete had been poured under similar conditions to the defective ramps. Spoke with ConRep on site to go and have a lo look and lo-and-behold we have other defects there too. The can of worms gets bigger. Other rising issues include continued lack of prep inspections and potential issues with a roof truss hanger system.
Officer Professional Development (OPD)
A demo of the debris clearance vessels used by the Corps to maintain waterways came across as a very good excuse for a jolly on the Potomac, cruising around Washington DC in the sunshine…..very nice. This was immediately followed by….
Media Training
Having stepped off the boat onto dry land I was accosted by the media team asking for an on the spot interview in relation to a scenario we were given earlier that morning. A plane had crashed into one of the bridges on the river and carnage ensued (This actually happened about 30 years ago). Not to worry – I told them that the passengers were all entitled to a full refund, all survivors would get a free boat trip on the Corps vessels and that conveniently the boats could deal with the dead folk using the big buckets on the front of the vessels….Thankfully, Colonel Anderson was laughing when all of this got played back at district….
…I have subsequently volunteered to go speak in schools at career days. First one is on Friday 1st June. They didn’t even ask for CRB checks!
In other news…
Col Foley visit admin developing well – thanks to the PEW clerks he is no longer staying in Harrisburg. (He would have had too much attention from the six-fingered cousins – so now we just have to protect him from the drug dealers and serial killers of Baltimore, but at least it’s a better quality of scroat. Also – I get to send him the DVD box set of ‘The Wire’ to use as my ground brief and orientation.)
‘Eat. Spit. Be Happy’ that’s what it says on my bag of sunflower seeds……so I’m off to do some spittin’
McFry – Out
Week 7, Steady. 14th – 18th May 2012
Really quite steady this last week. I’ve finished the SORs and got requests for Requests for Initial Funding (RIFs) for three projects signed off, so finally kicking those off on Wednesday/ Thursday in Runcorn. They are:
ETAP – ALQ as discussed in previous blogs – an awesome project I’m quite excited about
Magnus – Conde Pump upgrade. Install some new spools with double block and bleed valves; and add an integral bleed port; on to both trains on the condensate pump.
Magnus – Fire relief on Glycol boiler. Investigate the best method of pressure relief on the Glycol boiler; currently the 1” pipes are undersized, so we need to look at some alternative options. Mark, see Figure 1.
As for Bruce access platforms – Hugh’s got no money available at the moment so they’re on hold til the books can be rebalanced.
Right, last proof read of the TMR and then to bed. Exciting day tomorrow as I get to play with some big cranes! Doing a 1-day acquaint course which should be fun. On Tuesday I’m doing Purchase Order training that will be a lot less fun.
Figure 1. Magnus Engineering Flow Diagram – Train 2
Spotted in Yahoo news, does anyone have a confession to make?!!
Meanwhile, in Australia, a piece of Banksy artwork valued at around \$50,000 (£31,100) has been accidentally destroyed by builders.
The parachuting rat was painted about 15 years ago on a wall in Prahran in Melbourne and has been a proud fixture of the area ever since.
However, it was ruined when builders smashed a hole so that they could put new pipes into the building.
Resident Tina McKenzie told ABC News Australia: “They’ve sawn into the side of the building without actually saying anything.
“But then, that’s builders… they wouldn’t even think”
Ms McKenzie has had dealings with Banksy, and said she was going to send him an email to say a TV crew had been out to film the incident.
When asked what he would do she said: “Well, he would probably laugh that there’s so much attention around something that he’s just done as a part of his lifestyle every day!”j
Assistance Required: Design guidance on Cryogenic system
To Mark/Jim and others who are interested
At the moment I am working on a design check of a liquid nitrogen cryogenic system.
The exact questions / issues that I am looking into are:
1. Standards / Regulations / design guidance as to the materials to be used for the liquid nitrogen line and the cyrovent line.
2. Standards/Regulations for frequency for Cryovent cut ins on Liquid Nitrogen Line
3. Standards / regulations of venting liquid nitrogen boiloff
I have looked at ASHRAE refrigeration guide Chap 47, but this does not seem to have the answers I need. the others around me aren’t sure where else to go.
THe Sub-contractor who is installing the system seems sure of themselves and is stating the original design was inadequate and it should be installed the way they are doing it (which oddly costs more).
(Definition of Cryovent – a port that allows the boiled off nitrogen to escape.)
May 16 Commissioning and Transfer of focus to USAMRIID
In brief
I have been finishing off various items within the handover of the Steam Sterilization Plant, and starting to get more stuck into more aspects of the main USAMRIID project
Key Interesting points
Snagging and deficiencies lists within SSP.
We have generated a comprehensive snagging list for the SSP, and the discussion about what is exactly stated in the specification has ensued. It is interesting that despite the fact that no 5% retention is held no one is concerned that the contractor will not make good his mistakes, this is due to the power that the federal government (Us) has to command them to work, and the fact that it is essential for the contractor to stay onside with the Corp of Engineers for continuing work.
Testing of PALL filters.
In order to filter the high pressure steam the other gaseous waste from the SSP, HEPA filters are used to clean the air. These operate at high pressure and high flow rates. The testing of these filters has taken 3 weeks, due to the complex nature of the filter skids, and the fact that the method of testing has had to be changed several times to find a test that will allow the filters to pass. We have had to ensure ourselves then reassure the client that the “easier to pass” tests do give the same level of assurance and will be repeatable within their operation and maintenance schedule.
Investigating “Leak in system”
Within the SSP all non expected liquid waste is drained down to the basement, from where it is pneumatically lifted to the storage tanks on the top floor, ready for processing with the other effluent. The receiver/ejectors in the basement have been firing more than would be expected, and so I have been researching to try and find a plausible source of the water, as we were concerned that it might be a symptom a larger problem. Having isolated an onsite Auto-Clave this appears to have prevented the consistent leak, and so this more easily fixed than we had feared.
Design Alteration to the SSP
As mentioned in previous Blogs a design fault has been recognized, and is in the process of being corrected. In the meantime most of the other work has been finished to the original timeline, and so is nearing completion. A difficulty has arisen in so far as the contractor wants to know whether they are to hand over the building now as originally agreed in the contract and the original design, or continue maintenance of the facility for a few months until the design change is finalized and complete, and so they can hand over a fully working facility. Clearly either of these two options causes costs, and have their own advantages and disadvantages. Trying to extract these costs from the design contractor is apparently unlikely to succeed due to the contract style employed by the Corp of Engineers and federal Government.
USAMRIID
Duct Testing
Conducting and signing off the pressure tests of the installed air ducts – ensuring that they are adequately air tight,
Coating Application
Due to the higher heat and humidity than would be seasonably be expected it is causing some concern for the application of coatings. These are quite sensitive to atmospheric conditions, and it has been agreed in the contract that within selected high containment (high value) areas they will be monitored, this has worked for these selected areas, however the non monitored areas are noticeably less controlled and a lower quality of finish is achieved.
It has been decided that the cheapest and easiest way would be for the Corp to monitor all the others areas with HOBO data loggers, and then provide this information to the contractors. This is another example of the Corp assisting the Contractor more than might be usual, and so at least from our side the partnership relationship seems to be going well!
Partnering
Having observed different members of the contractor and Corp interact it has become clear that the “partnering” spirit is mostly more visible in the Corp (probably due to the more relaxed approach to budgets), and also very highly personality dependant. It appears that the Latham report has not been fully read and digested by the older members of the contractors. Partnering with someone who does not want to reciprocate seems in some ways to be worse than both being adversarial, and both playing the same game.
Lack of Shop Drawings
In some of the areas of the USAMRIID project the Corp have allowed the contractor some flexibility of the detailing, in order to allow them to find the most cost effective solution at the time of construction. This is now causing some difficulties as the contractor is now unable or unwilling to provide shop drawings, and so signing them off as an acceptable method is difficult, as are inspections. This is leading to some disputes where the contractor is stating that our lack of movement on the inspections is delaying them, but we are in turn waiting for the shop drawings in order to do the inspections. They seem to be obstinately not listening!
Valve Access
Due to the high density of services within the USAMRIID there are many places where it is difficult to get to the commissioning and isolation valves of the mechanical system because other systems have since been placed in the way. This is clearly unacceptable and will also be very costly to correct, due to the number of places where it has occurred. This does seem to be an elementary error, that should really have been stopped before it got this far, however the number of services will make any solution difficult to implement. I am considering suggesting the use of highly trained monkeys for the O&M crew, as they will be smaller and also able to climb on the ducts.
What have I learnt?
Valve access
As early as possible in the design process the maintenance of the plant must be considered, otherwise it is doomed to fail. Within this project it would probably have led to even more services floors, and a higher price-tag so would have been inevitable. A full 3D services plan would have helped for the visualization of services clashes.
Testing and Commissioning
Do not underestimate the time and budget required for the testing and commissioning, especially on complex projects. Problems will be found, this is the point of the process. Ensure there is a plan in place for making larger and time consuming alterations.
Coating Application
The sheer act of monitoring will increase the level of workmanship, as long as it is done across the board and against clear and relevant criteria.
Partnering
Can be effective, yet the stick is also still required at times. Try to imbue a partnering attitude from as early on as possible, and work hard to maintain this.
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