Archive
A more focussed week…
Fewer topics but with more devils in the detail this week.
EDC SolarWall:
The contractor is busy working away on the 65% design solution buthas submitted a risk analysis (more a project management risk assessment than anything else) I offered suggestions on minimising risk to supply chains by having a floating stock and to help coordination between the facility and the work details by having primary and back up work plans. Discussion and costing of aesthetic options for the wall supports continues.
Ashley Reservist Centre
I am helping to identify a laboratory that can conduct the relevant testing for the core samples. It seems we’ve never had petrographic testing done before on any of these jobs. We have also liberated some core samples that came from the foundations a couple of weeks ago. From photographs that were sent in from site I pointed out (almost reluctantly) that the rebar was way too close to the surface – so now we may not even be able to trust the foundations it’s built on! This becomes more of a mess as time goes on. We liberated the cores so that they too can be tested. How this will be held against the contractor I do not know – the likelyhood is that it will simply be recorded in the logs for in the event of future defects arising. Personally I feel that if this was a civilian owned contract they would be in the thick of litigation by now, but the cost to the tax payer is already too high for what we are getting for this project.
C4 ISR Tobyhanna
This is a new one to play with. This is a completed structure that overran (suprise suprise) due to monumental mess ups with the design provided by USACE. The project was for a finishing centre for vehicles where they undergo re-fit and and spreayed etc. It went out to tender with an electrical design that didn’t even cover the requirements for the spray booths themselves and as such the whole thing was not fit for purpose. The re-design then changed the structural design and several revisions to the project were required. It appears the main contractor entered into several sub-contracts and now as a result of the iterative redisgn process, huge delays and changes he is hitting USACE for litigation / request for equitable adjustment in the region of $1.25M with more to come……
The letter itself is a 40 page document with an accompanying five inch thick file of exhibits. I have devised a tool for collaborating between the many disciplines that are going to have to pour through this and have conducted the first iteration of input. The intention is to pin as many issues at the lowest level before raising outstanding issues to the next level and formulating a coordinated response. I managed to catch the ear of the District Commander recently and he reckoned the whole thing wouldn’t be settled for less than $2M…so I reckon it’s not as bad as it could have been. I am now working through the various issues and conducting triage on the fall-out tasks. The country is 16 Trillion in debt and I understand why! I am trying to minimise this as much as possible but in a fair manner…. I will also be holding a bring and buy sale to help relieve the national debt. This will go on for some time.
And in other news:
After successfully conducting investigations in Spanish for the Harpersferry Project – I have now successfully used my English skills to order a pizza on the phone…it’s surprising how many folk can’t understand a word I say. [Yes Roy that’s no different to normal I know – it must be a Yorkshire thing].
Child number one is now back with us in the US. We now need to occupy him for 13 weeks (suggestions welcomed). He was seriously unimpressed when the first thing we did was take him to the social security office so we can apply for a work permit for him. We will soon have him in a sweat shop somewhere downtown.
For Sale – Cheap sweatshirts (coming soon)
Only 2 shootings nearby this weekend….and no face eating…which is a bonus.
Corrupting the minds of future generations…
Careers Day – Dumbarton Middle School
USACE has a huge outreach programme which covers targetted media, public information and also encompasses the promotion of science and engineering through career days at local schools. I went along and convinced them all to come and join the British Army. Having listened to other speakers at the bureau, I have decided that I want to be a museum curator or a fireman when I grow up. The good thing about all of this is that it help hit some of the development objectives for ICE and also opens up a bunch of extra curricular activities.
EDC SolarWall®
The recent requirement for changes to the design has resulted in a request for an extension from the contractor (time only) which will be honored. This will result in a delay in the submittal of the 65% design solution and potentially a delay on the expected completion date.
We are also negotiating on means of providing the monitoring process. Everyone knew we would need sensors and monitors, but the installation of wi-fi or cabling and power for the sensors appears to have been previously overlooked. Not to worry – it’s all at the contractor’s risk, but any proposal needs to be incorporated to the infrastructure of the building accordingly.
As a result of recent design changes the contractor is seeking to use an epoxy coat for steel columns, but the customer is not keen and keeps sending sketches of what they think it should look like to the contractor. This opens up a world of pain, because if this is interpreted as authority to provide a final solution, then we may be promising mods and changes that aren’t approved or financially appropriated……and folk have gone to proison over here for stuff like that. The contractor needs to take the idea, make it his own and then propose it back to us so we can say ‘hey what a good idea – let’s make the mod…’
DDSP Buildings 732 / 760
My comments on the PMPs have clearly ruffled feathers. Every job by USACE ‘must’ have a PMP and people just look at this as a hoop to jump through. Therefore the PMPs tend to be very generic and lack any kind of insightful risk analysis or mitigation thereof. I have been asked to educate the folk that prepared them and they are not being overly receptive.
Ashley Reservist Center
The awarding District has decided that they do not want the approved testing lab (hired by the contractor) to do the petrographic testing of the defective concrete previously identified. The fear is that the lab is ‘on side’ with the contractor. I don’t know if this creates any contractual issues (can we actually tell them what lab to use – or is it their business?) I pointed out that the lab is on the approved list because USACE has inspected them and authorised them. To not use them is to question the ability of our own departments. Also – it is more than it is worth for the lab to get itself struck off the list as we provide a hige amount of work for them. I also feel that by forcing them to change the lab, we are openly saying to them that we do not trust any of their previous results which will not do much for the ‘partnership’.
The office manager here is contemplating paying for the tests from our own office budget to try and avoid some of these issues – in which case I recommended that they also test some cores that were taken from the foundations to pass services through. If these are found to be lacking then it confirms that the testing regieme has been flawed from the beginning……but would also prove that the whole building is sitting on sub-standard foundations….and that will get juicy.
Other News
Not simply content with just shooting and stabbing each other – the US is now having issues with ‘face eating’. Sorry…I correct myself ‘naked face eating’ whereby a naked man in miami eats his victim’s faces. Far from just being abhored, it’s almost becoming a tourist attraction. The Miami tourist board has updated it’s advertising accrodingly.
For Sale
Pallet of smoke and mirrors (unused). Surplus to requiremnet following CI visit.
¡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.
Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog 