To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
Through: David L. Corliss, Town Manager
Dan Sailer, Director of Public Works
From: Austin Payne, Project Manager
Title
Resolution Approving a Second Amendment to Town of Castle Rock Services Agreement with RockSol Consulting Group, Inc. for Continued Management, Inspection, and Materials Testing of the Four Corners Intersection Improvement Project
Body
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Executive Summary
Staff is seeking Town Council approval of a Resolution approving a Service Agreement Amendment (Attachment A) between the Town of Castle Rock and RockSol Consulting Group, Inc. (RockSol) for construction administration and inspection services on the Four Corners Intersection Improvement project. The increase in scope is necessary to accommodate an increase in the construction duration. The service agreement amendment will increase the contract amount from $757,978 to $1,028,978. This increase of $271,000 will cover the cost of RockSol providing services through the end of the project. This cost is in line with historical project costs associated with these services. There is available project budget to cover this additional scope based on the construction award being less than the original budget estimate.
The services being extended with this amendment are the construction management and inspection/testing services. These services have been provided by RockSol to date on the project which is required by the intergovernmental agreement with CDOT. RockSol is providing full time construction inspection and construction management support for the project. The utilization of these services ensure construction of the project is in accordance with contract documents and Federal regulations and is in turn crucial for the delivery of this new asset to Town of Castle Rock residents and stakeholders.
The RockSol staff is made up of three key team members, a Project Engineer, Construction Manager and Materials Specialist/Tester. These staff members are onsite daily to ensure compliance with all state and federal regulations as well as specifications specific to the project. The originally anticipated timeframe for when their services would be needed is now being expanded due to a time extension for the project related to project delays in design as well as weather delays encountered during construction.
Project construction has encountered a number of unanticipated challenges that will delay construction completion by fifty (50) working days which requires additional construction inspection and project management from the RockSol team. The construction challenges are largely attributed to design plan issues, which are detailed within the “Discussion” section. The construction completion is projected to be completed by the end of this year.
Discussion
The design encountered various issues associated with Town and David Evans and Associates staff turnover, stormwater regulation changes, plan set layout changes along with various other issues related to final design. Throughout this process, the design consultant struggled to achieve the expectations of the Town and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). Those issues resulted in a delay in the final plan set being approved by CDOT for construction.
Since starting construction in the fall of 2023, the project has encountered a number of unanticipated challenges that have delayed anticipated construction completion, and therefore require additional inspection and construction management services. The challenges driving the delay mostly surround issues with the project design and construction plans. Major components of project construction including the roadway and retaining walls have required substantial changes in order to meet Town and CDOT requirements. Addressing these changes will require fifty (50) working days of additional time on the construction contract. The original anticipated construction completion date was September 27, 2024. With the approval of this amendment and a pending associated change order by CDOT, the new projected construction completion date will be December 6.
The design and construction plan issues driving construction delay are detailed below within “Major Design Issues” and “General Design Issues”.
Major Design Issues Vertical Profile
The vertical profile of the roadway design (think height of the roadway) as designed is higher than the existing road. This design error resulted in additional work during construction. In order to construct the project per design, the contractor must perform a greater amount of: existing roadway removals, earthwork, asphalt paving, and traffic control. The work outlined here accounts for approximately 75% of the construction delay.
Soil Nail Retaining Wall
The design of a major retaining wall on the south west corner of the intersection did not precisely account for the full height needed. To address the real roadside elevation where the wall was constructed, the contractor needed to perform additional wall construction which required additional design services which extended the timeframe for which the work was to be completed. The necessary design services were provided at the cost of David Evans and Associates. The work outlined here accounts for approximately 10% of the construction delay.
The Town’s project team is tracking the costs associated with these design issues. The team has reached out to the Town Attorney’s office and are working on recommendations for making claims for compensation against the design firm.
General Design Issues
Over the course of construction so far, the contractor has required clarification and/or additional information to proceed with construction to ensure the project is being built correctly. When a contractor asks for this information, there can be delays as a result. These requests by the contractor are referred to as Request for Information (RFI). There have been over 30 RFIs submitted by the contractor so far which for a project this size is relatively unusual and a representation of the delays caused by such. The aggregate effect of this number of RFIs has had a measurable impact on construction progress, and accounts for approximately 15% of the construction delay.
Staff have worked with RockSol staff to evaluate the appropriate scope of services and additional funds necessary to carry their services through the new completion date.
Scope of Work
This amendment will provide funding for the continued services of RockSol Consulting group through project completion. The services provided through this amendment will continue the project management assistance, project inspections and testing assurance. These services are provided by the project engineer, construction manager and field tester. The roles of these positions are crucial in ensuring that the additional 50 days work completed by the contractor are done in accordance with the specifications included in the contract and that all documentation and correspondence is done within the requirements of the intergovernmental agreements with CDOT and Douglas County. These services have been tracked throughout construction to effectively manage the budget. In doing so, the average spent on these services per day is $5k. This information was used by the project team to justify the necessary funds required to extend these services through the new construction end date. This cost per day is consistent with other Town project where consultant services are utilized and the rates for the specific project staff are consistent with CDOT project data as well.
Budget Impact
Approval of the proposed amendment will increase the RockSol contract by $271,000 for a total of $1,090,000. Of the contract increase $68,907 is to be covered by town managed contingency within the Town Council approved Purchase Order. The remainder of the increase will be funded with available funds in the project account. See table for clarification:
The project has unencumbered funds in the amount of $1,925,026. These unencumbered funds are a result of better than anticipated bids for construction. The additional funds needed for this amendment will be funded by this unencumbered balance. See table 2 for funding balance.
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends the Town Council approve the resolution as introduced by title. This item was reviewed with the Public Works Commission at their meeting on September 9, 2024. The Public Works Commission also formally recommends Town Council approval.
Proposed Motion
“I move that Town Council approve the Resolution as Introduced by title.”
Alternative Motions:
“I move to approve the resolution as introduced by title with the following changes ”
“I move to continue this item to a future Town Council meeting date”
Attachments
Resolution
Attachment A: Service Agreement Amendment No. 2
Attachment B: Amendment No. 2 Scope of Work