Offshore Water Treatment Pipeline Repair Wins 2013 Harry H. Mellon Award of Excellence

MAULDIN, S.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Harry H. Mellon Award of Excellence in Job Order Contracting for 2013 was awarded to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) and Power Engineering Construction Company (Power Engineering) for replacement of an underwater end gate on the City’s Southwest Ocean Outfall (SWOO). The discharge line for Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant (OSP) and wet weather decanted flows from the Westside Transport/Storage Box.

Replacing the SWOO end gate required extensive planning, precise crew scheduling, marine-construction equipment and underwater construction methods. Work to install an 8-ft.-diameter end gate took place 87 ft. below the surface of the Pacific Ocean and 4.5 miles west of San Francisco.

Power Engineering worked with SFPUC engineers, planning and completing the initial phase of work between July and December 2007. This phase included removal of the existing end gate and installation of a temporary one.

The second phase of work started in September 2013, allowing ample time for the end gate to be retrofitted with an access door for remote-operated vehicles and divers. Removal of the temporary end gate and installation of the newly modified 6,110-lbs end gate took just four days. Crews worked in shifts, 12-hours on and 12-hours off, to allow OSP to continue operating.

The custom nature of the project required Power Engineering to design, build and test a mechanism to align a deep-water coring machine to drill holes for additional anchor bolts. The holes could only be drilled when the end gate was in place underwater. Due to the depth of the water at the site, several divers were needed because each could only work for short periods of time before decompressing in chambers aboard the work ship.

The annual industry award program recognizes excellent and innovative uses of Job Order Contracting (JOC). Judging for the annual awards program was conducted by project managers, contractors and consultants who are considered experts in JOC. Previous winners were judges as well.

In order to be eligible, projects had to be completed during 2013. Nominations were submitted by agency owners or contractors. In addition to the National Winner, judges named five Award of Merit Winners recognized for their demonstration of best practices in Job Order Contracting, whose projects are described below:

Award of Merit Winners

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
Facility Owner: Broward County Aviation Department
Contractor: Thornton Construction Company, Inc.
JOC System: Gordian JOC Solution™
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Replacement of floor covering at Terminal 3 and concourses E and F at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport challenged crews with the need to work at night and to re-produce artwork on a public “canvas.” The scope of the $1.2 million project included removing carpet and laminate flooring and then furnishing and installing water jet artwork terrazzo. In addition, ten podiums at boarding gates were refinished and relocated.

Before Rainbow’s End is the name of the artwork created by artists Scott Parsons and David Griggs. It depicts South Florida wildlife, a clear night sky with constellations, and fictional flying machines and manta rays drifting through the skies.

Thornton Construction Company organized the 10,400-square-foot project into ten phases, which took over 8 months to complete. Each phase consisted of between 750 and 1500 square feet and was completed over the course of 16 days, including removal and installation of carpet flush with newly poured terrazzo. The terrazzo installation involved coordination with the Singer Architects, as well as the artists.

Super Storm Sandy Emergency Repairs
Facility Owner: New York City Dept. of Environmental Protection
Contractor: WDF, Inc.
JOC System: Gordian JOC Solution
New York

When Super Storm Sandy wreaked havoc on the East Coast in 2012, New York City’s Dept. of Environmental Protection responded with Job Order Contracting to repair seven sewage pumping stations. The stations in low-lying areas of Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island sustained damage to all electrical and mechanical equipment.

Repairs were critically important because raw sewage from surrounding communities could not be processed while the stations were offline. A Gordian JOC program already in place enabled the department to immediately create a recovery team charged with rebuilding the infrastructure and streamlining the process. The cost to rebuild the stations totaled $9.3 million.

The contractor, WDF, Inc., quickly realized the extent of the damage meant virtually everything, down to lights and light switches, had to be replaced. Electrical components including motor control centers, pump motors, fans, control stations, pumps and monitoring equipment were also replaced. In addition, WDF worked on the stations concurrently in order to speed repairs.

School Building Security Updates
Facility Owner: Anoka-Hennepin School District
Contractor: RAK Construction
JOC System: ezIQC®
Anoka, Minn.

School officials had to move swiftly to make security upgrades to 27 schools and other educational facilities before classes began for the 2013-2014 school year when capital-improvement funds had been reallocated just months before. The Anoka Hennepin School District used Gordian’s ezIQC solution available through the National Joint Powers Alliance® purchasing cooperative.

The $765,000 security-improvement project redesigned building vestibules in response to the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newport, Conn., in late 2012. Vestibules were redesigned and lined with security window films. They were also outfitted with an intercom and electronic card reader. After swiping a driver’s license a visitor’s identity is reviewed by office personnel using a computer database before allowing the person to enter. If a problem is detected with a visitor, the system signals an alert.

Founders Plaza Landscape
Facility Owner: Dallas County
Contractor: Ed A. Wilson, Inc
JOC System: ezIQC
Dallas, Texas

Just seven months before the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Dallas County enlisted ezIQC, available through the Texas BuyBoard, and a qualified contractor to fast-track renovations to Founders Plaza that had to be complete by November 22.

While the contractor, Ed A. Wilson, Inc. (EAW), anticipated working with a construction schedule beginning June 1 and ending October 31, the final work order was received June 18 for the $618,000 project. The original scope of work consisted of new landscaping, irrigation and hardscape changes to visually enhance the site.

Changes to the scope of work continued during the project, even though the scheduled completion date remained unchanged. Prior to construction, Dallas County had asked for an option to repair existing fountains that had not worked for several years. The county exercised that option, requiring EAW to remove additional concrete to make the necessary repairs.

A portion of the original scope included demolition of a significant number of concrete pads. Once work began, however, the concrete below grade was discovered to be attached to a parking garage structure. Even though removal was still necessary, EAW used JOC pricing the county was able to accept.

Richmond Ice Centre Evaporative Condenser Replacement
Facility Owner: City of Richmond
Contractor: Ashton Service Group
JOC System: Gordian JOC Solution
Richmond, BC

Use of Gordian JOC by the City of Richmond to replace a failing evaporative condenser at its ice centre took weeks off the time it would have taken if the traditional procurement process had been used. Rather than working through a process that could have lasted as many as 22 weeks, city officials had a new condenser installed in four weeks.

The centre operates six ice surfaces within the 155,000 square foot building. Approximately 443,000 people visit annually, making it one of the City of Richmond’s most used facilities.

Ashton Service Group handled removal of the 19-year-old unit and installed the new one during a 12-hour shutdown of the centre. All services provided—demolition, disposal, repairs to the support structure, corrosion prevention, plumbing, electrical, connection of ammonia lines—were handled through JOC.

The Harry H. Mellon Award of Excellence in Job Order Contracting program was established in 2008 and is awarded annually. It recognizes excellence in using Job Order Contracting principles and practices while identifying unique and innovative ways the process can function in construction, repair and renovation work. It is sponsored by The Gordian Group. Through its founder, JOC inventor Harry H. Mellon, the company created Job Order Contracting, ezIQC, and a number of related construction procurement systems.

Job Order Contracting is a competitively bid procurement process that building and infrastructure owners use to save money by fast-tracking repair and alteration projects based on locally priced construction tasks and competitively awarded contracts.