Dear Mr. Coffey:

Post-construction reviews of the subject projects were held on March 29, 2001 in the District 8 conference room with the following personnel in attendance:

Siamak Shafaghi C. O. Highway Design

Rob Finley C. O. Bridge Design

Larry Kerr District 8, Construction

Rodney Little District 8, Construction

Joe Cox District 8, Design

Ron Laugherty District 8, Construction

Paul Francis District 8, Pre-construction

Donald Smither District 8, Construction

Robert Semones C. O. Highway Design

The attendees reviewed the plans and the change orders occurred during the construction of both projects. A total of Seven (7) change orders had been issued for these projects. The meeting was followed by on-site investigation of the project areas. The US25 project involved rehabilitation of the highway for a distance of 2.140 km from I-75 to Mt. Vernon–Berea Rd. The I-75 Project involved rehabilitation and widening for a distance of 5.907 km from Laurel County line to KY2791. Both meetings dealt with issues pertaining to Grade, Drain, and Surface. The following is an account of the incurred change orders on each project.

This change order per the direction of the State Highway Engineer was to revise the Superpave Mixtures for the asphalt Base and Surface courses of the Mainline to include polyester reinforcement fibers. The two revised Mixtures then met the requirements of "Special Note for Fiber Reinforced Superpave Mixtures" dated 9/13/99.

Contract time remained unaffected by this change order.

Increase $44,825.70

This change order was approved to improve the approach at the West End of the project predominantly for safety reasons. This was accomplished by relocating the beginning point of construction from Sta. 4+420 to 4+249 and extended the westbound truck lane from Sta. 4+525 to 4+340. This change was necessary to accommodate the increasing traffic from the ongoing development in the areas adjacent to the approach and that of heavy trucks from the existing Asphalt Plant directly across the approach. This change order included all quantities of materials for asphalt courses, erosion control, removal and reinstallation of safety guardrails, etc. as necessary to improve the safety of traffic conditions within vicinity of the approach.

A net increase of ten (10) working days was allotted by this change order.

Increase $116,877.00

* * *

This change order was issued to authorize the following activities and/or modifications;

• Provide additional quantities of roadway excavation needed to undercut and stabilize the subgrade on the left and right from Sta. 83+000 to Sta. 84+000 within the limits of the existing depressed median. This remedial action which included use of Fabric-Geotextile Type IV, Crushed Aggregate Size No. 23, and extending the existing 200-mm perforated pipe 132.00 meters; was in part to drain and prevent moisture/water from migrating to the pavement surface. Several similar areas in need of future repair due to presence of moisture/water on the pavement surface were remarked during the field inspection.

• Replace the 100 mm temporary paint pavement striping established in the contract with 150 mm type of the same to be consistent with the proposed permanent pavement striping which had been specified at 150 mm and to provide improved visibility in the construction work zone.

• Provide Remote Capability and Cellular Phone Service to the Variable Sign Message (VMS) boards in order to better advise the travelling public of road conditions in the construction areas. Remote Capability to VMS was provided per the Special Note for Variable Message Signs. The contractor was reimbursed for the cost of cellular phone service and related charges per variable message sign.

Contract time was not affected by this change order.

Increase $329,547.82

This change order was approved to implement a Value Engineering proposal to move the location of the new Sand Hill Road Bridge (over I-75) four (4) meters north from the planned location at Sta. 87+707.079 to Sta. 87+711.079. Hence, eliminate the proposed phase construction to accelerate the project. The proposed location of the new bridge was at the same location as the existing bridge. By obtaining additional right-of-way and revising the alignment of Sand Hill Road, the entire new bridge was constructed while maintaining two lanes of traffic on Sand Hill Road. The Central Office Division of Construction approved this Value Engineering proposal.

Contract time was unaffected by this change order.

Increase $4,544.01

This change order was approved to implement the following modifications and/or changes:

• Use Material Transfer Vehicle (MTV) in accordance with Special Note for MTV [(9Y) (1/5/1999)] to place the mainline asphalt base and surface. The Central Office Division of Construction approved this item.

• Install new supplemental item; Type 7 Guardrail End Treatments in lieu of the proposed Type 1 End Treatments on Sand Hill Road.

• Pre-drill holes for guardrail posts to be installed through asphalt drainage blanket on the northbound lanes. The guardrail strings were located within the limits of the truck lane typical section, which had a planned shoulder wedge constructed of crushed stone base. This scheme was implemented on the southbound lanes. However, the open graded asphalt course which was originally designed to daylight on a 6:1 slope, was changed on the northbound lanes to include asphalt-treated drainage blanket in order to achieve a smooth slope transition and prevent the material from running out. Consequently, due to the difficulty encountered in driving guardrail posts through asphalt drainage blanket, some guardrail posts were installed in predrilled holes.

• Construct milled rumble strips in the inside median shoulders. This was necessary due to the construction and traffic control phasing of the final surface course. The normal rolled-in rumble strips could not be installed during the surfacing of the shoulder, since traffic would be inevitably on a portion of the finished inside shoulder during the final surface construction while maintaining a 2-lane traffic. Hence, the rumble strips were milled into the shoulder after traffic was switched to the finished mainline driving lanes.

• Remove painted pavement striping of lane lines and edge lines for traffic transitions during phase construction. Use temporary pavement striping through the transition areas.

• Resurface including milling of the existing roadway surface from the planned beginning of new pavement Sta. 82+919 back to the Laurel County line Sta. 81+753. The milling and asphalt resurfacing included all mainline pavement, inside shoulder and 0.9 meter of the outside shoulder. This item covered erosion control as well as ditching for the said project extension. Additional "Maintenance and Control of Traffic" including all traffic control devices and lane closures was also provided by this item. This revision was implemented per the request by the Division of Operations and FHWA.

This change order was issued to provide funding for payment of Asphalt Price Adjustment and the Fuel Price Adjustment in accordance with section 109.07 of the Standard Specifications for road and Bridge Construction, 1998 edition.

Contract days were not affected by this change order.

This change order provided additional funds to reimburse the contractor for Asphalt Price Adjustment and Fuel Price Adjustment for October and November 2000. Change Order no. 4 reflected adjustment totals through September 2000. Included in this change order was also funding for payment of the asphalt pavement ride quality adjustment in accordance with Section 412 of the Standard Specifications for road and Bridge Construction, 1998 edition.

Contract time was not affected by this change order.

Increase $147,284.02

• It was pointed out that the contract did not contain any language about the limitations or restrictions with regard to the outline of working days during holidays or weekends.

• The need for a clear explanation of "Lane Closure" in the plans or contract notes was discussed. It was pointed out that such language should definitively describe the conditions under which a "Lane Closure" would be incidental with no payment allotted Vs. the conditions which qualify a "Lane Closure" for payment.

The attendance of all participants in these post-construction reviews is greatly appreciated. Please submit any additional comments to this office by May 25, 2001. All comments will be reviewed and disseminated to the appropriate personnel for consideration.

J. M. Yowell, P.E.

State Highway Engineer

JMY:GS:SS