March 17, 2000

Amos Hubbard, PE

Chief District Engineer

District 10

Highway 15

PO Box 621

Jackson, KY 41339

Quillen’s Chapel Road

PCN 960589

CH 960816

Post-construction Review

Dear Mr. Hubbard:

A post-construction review on the subject project was held on February 17, 2000 in the District 10 conference room with the following personnel in attendance:

Robert Semones C. O. Highway Design

Joette Fields C. O. Highway Design

Don Crutcher WMB, Inc. Engineers

Siamak Shafaghi C. O. Highway Design

Brian Billings District 10, Resident Engineer

The attendees reviewed the project plans and construction Change Orders. Five (5) Change Orders had been issued for this project. The meeting was followed by an on-site investigation of the project area. This meeting dealt with issues pertaining to the construction of a new interchange at Quillen’s Chapel Road near KY 15 to access the industrial site constructed on State Route 1693. This project involved Grade, Drain, and Surface for a distance of 0.568 Mile. The plans were developed from flown survey data and field data. The following is an account of the change orders and the reasons for their occurrence.

This change order was approved to implement a value engineering proposal submitted by the contractor. The contractor was willing to eliminate the temporary barrier walls and crash cushions to expedite ramp construction. The work was not satisfactory due to poor planning and lack of communication between the District personnel and the sub-contractors. Public safety was not compromised but the work took five (5) days instead of the estimated two (2) days. This change order also reflected upgrading the 6’ (ft) shoulders, Sta. 35+00 to 48+00 from "earth" to Crushed Stone Base, due to the nature of expected heavy traffic at the industrial site.

This change order included the required quantities for two spans of beams, decks, and (estimated) steel reinforcement for the construction of the bridge over Mountain Parkway, which were left out from the bid proposal. These quantities had been specified in the bridge plans but inadvertently left out from the proposal sheets.

Included in this change order was a Traffic Control Plan, which had not been addressed for the construction of the bridge. Hayden Bridge submitted the Traffic Control Plan, which was approved by the Department. The plan called for Barrels required for channelization, and traffic signs needed for shoulder and lane closures. 240 linear feet of Concrete Barrier Type 9M was needed for lane closures. One (1) additional Flashing Arrow at ($4,500) was required, which became the property of the Highway Department upon completion of the bridge. The Department personnel verified the integrity of the Flashing Arrow before acceptance.

The remaining items added in this change order were placement of Silt Fence and Silt Trap Type A, needed for erosion control. These items were not included on the original plans as the Erosion Control requirements of Design Memo No. 8-98 were not in effect at the time the plans were submitted.

No additional working day was allowed for this order.

Net Increase $82,221.00

This change order was approved to reflect the final plan quantity of steel reinforcement partially corrected in change order no. 1.

This change order added; two signs needed for a lane closure, and delineators, for the barrier wall. These were needed during the construction of the bridge.

This change order reflects the cost of 42‘(ft) of an 8-inch pipe that was damaged during the construction of the bridge pier. The plans did not indicate how to the construct the pier without disturbing the pipe. The median pier was setup for guardrail around the pier and Type 4 and Type 5 End Treatments on each end. This created a problem for the construction of Grade and Drain for these end treatment types. Subsequently, after discussion with the Division of Construction and Design, it was determined to use Crash Cushion Type IX at this location, as Type 4 and Type 5 End Treatments were no longer being recommended in this type of application as frequently.

No additional working days were allowed for this change order.

Increase $31,983.68

This change order was issued to authorize construction of two (2) entrances on two (2) properties near Sta. 38+75 on Quillens Chapel Road. These entrances had been left out from the original plans and required two (2) 18-inch entrance pipes to construct. One (1) Inlet Headwall was already placed which had to be removed and reset.

This change order involved installation of a 30-inch culvert pipe Sta. 304+90 to 306+50 in the exact location of a ditch to be excavated on the right side of Ramp #3. Due to the unstable nature of saturated soil and presence of excessive moisture/water in the immediate area, it was decided to use a pipe rather than cutting the toe of the slope out. The pipe allowed for improved stability of the slopes coming towards the ditch. The standard headwalls and 160 (ft) of the pipe were used. The original length of the pipe ordered was 200’ (ft), since the exact length of the pipe needed was unknown. Thus, the 40’ (ft) unused section of the pipe, became the property of the Department and was stored at the Salt Dome lot. All changes to the wet areas on Ramp #3 and Ramp #1 were made per the discussions with the Geotechnical Branch.

The wet areas located within ramp #3 required drainage blankets with 400’ (ft) of 4-inch perforated pipe. The very wet area on Ramp #1 from Sta. 112+00 to 114+25 required Channel Lining Type 3 capped with crushed aggregate no. 2 over Geotextile Fabric Type IV. However, after placement of the 30-inch pipe, it was found that the fill material had begun to shift causing the pipe to separate at the joints. This necessitated the pipe and the headwalls to be removed and re-laid at a higher elevation using additional aggregate underneath the pipe. Once, the fill material was constructed over the pipe, it was noted that additional bridging was needed. Therefore, the final grade was raised.

This change order increased the quantity of crushed stone base for shoulders on Quillen Chapel Road noted in Change Order No.1 to full depth. This was apparently due to a miscalculation represented in Change Order No.1.

This change order reflects the change from Embankment–in-place to Excavation. More than half way through the job, it was discovered that the project was not going to be embankment–in-place. Therefore, the cost item for embankment-in-place was replaced by

"excavation". This change was partly due to a large margin of error in the flown survey data, which was said to have been caused by the dense population of pines in the area. And partly, due to one of the larger excavation areas being in a curve, where a more accurate method should have been employed to compute the project earthwork; i.e., more excavation would have been anticipated, if additional cross-sections were taken, and computations were based on the center of mass of each section and the scaled distance in between the sections.

This change order addressed the removal and resetting of perforated headwalls along Mountain Parkway around the ramp tie-ins--which were left out from the original plans.

Included in this change order was an item for "Special slip excavation", due to a slip which occurred during the construction of a channel lined ditch (Type III) to the right of Quillen Chapel Road at Sta. 62+00 to 65+00. This was needed due to the physical location of the slip, which made it difficult to remove the material. It was agreed that the material removed would be deducted from the roadway excavation item.

Fourteen (14) additional working days were allowed for this change order.

Net Increase $248,686.79

This change order was issued for additional quantities of concrete and steel reinforcement to be used for permanent signing platforms. The quantities set up in the plans were not adequate. Included in this change order was also a variable message board that was deemed necessary to provide advance warning to the traffic, detouring across the ramps during the removal of the old bridge structure.

This change order reflects the addition of an asphalt wedge curb and a flume ( Type 1) to divert run-off to a special ditch treated with Class III channel lining. This was necessary to control erosion on the shoulders and to protect the established vegetation along the fill slope, which had already shown signs of excessive erosion and/or damage.

When removing the shoulders of the Mountain Parkway for the construction of the ramp tie-ins, the surface scaled off onto the mainline leaving a jagged edge. To prevent an uneven surface and also to seal the tie-in joints, an 18-inch edge key was milled along the mainline in the said areas. The aforementioned was included in this change order.

Contract working days remained unchanged by this change order.

Increase $46,675.25

This change order was to pay the contractor for the actual quantity of excavation upon completion of the project.

Working days were unaffected by this change order.

1. Drainage and the necessity of drainage control structures, were a major issue on this job. It was pointed out that additional "standard" erosion control items should be included in the design plans. It was expressed that savings are possible as a result. However, inclusion of these items should be based on site specific conditions of the project area, and investigated, during the design phase. As in this project involving a bridge construction in an area with saturated to over saturated soil, a de-watering structure would have been beneficial.
2. It was indicated that if the bridge plans have been completed, that a mechanism should be in place, to ensure that the traffic control plan is also included in the proposal package. It was discussed that bridge design, should be done ahead of time and before the traffic control plan, so that it is in fact integrated as a part of the design plans. It was pointed out that one way to prevent the occurrence of this situation is to ensure a review and/or otherwise availability of the traffic control plan, is secured in the Division of Design, prior to submittal for letting.
3. With regard to survey data, in particular, that collected in arial photography, it was expressed that additional field cross-sections should be taken, and checks performed, to verify the accuracy of such data in the design phase. Arial photography in areas populated with pine trees, should be verified early in the design phase.

The contractor for this project was Hill & Hill Company.

The attendance of all participants in this post-construction review is greatly appreciated. Please submit any additional comments to this office by April 7, 2000. All comments will be reviewed and disseminated to the appropriate personnel for consideration.

J. M. Yowell, P.E.

State Highway Engineer

JMY:JBS:SS:ss

cc: C. Raymer D. Newman C. Knowles R. Divine S. Cornett J. Stone