Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, December 04, 2018
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF THE FIFTH AMENDMENT TO THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH TCM GROUP INC., A HILL INTERNATIONAL COMPANY, TO EXTEND THE TIMELINE OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT SERVICES FOR PROJECT 919 (CITY COUNCIL)
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I. SUMMARY
On November 7, 2018, the City Council authorized and appropriated additional funds to complete Project No. 919: Wilmington Avenue Interchange Modification at the I-405 Freeway. The appropriation accounted for the extended services of the TCM Group, Inc., a Hill International Company (Hill), for the completion of the project. No additional appropriation is required as part of this staff report.
Construction is estimated to be completed by May 2019. An amendment to Hill’s current agreement is necessary to accommodate the extended construction timeline and continue to provide construction management services through the balance of the project.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
TAKE the following actions:
1. APPROVE the Fifth Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with TCM Group, Inc., a Hill International Company, to reflect an extension of the time of service for a negotiated additional fee not-to-exceed $40,000, increasing the total Contract Sum to $4,858,765.32.
2. AUTHORIZE the Mayor to execute the Fifth Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with TCM Group, Inc., a Hill International Company, following approval as to form by the City Attorney.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
1. DO NOT APPROVE the Fifth Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with Hill International Company.
2. TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate and consistent with the requirements of the law.
IV. BACKGROUND
The Carson Successor Agency and the City Council are undertaking Project No. 919: Wilmington Avenue Interchange Modification at the I-405 Freeway. The project includes the construction of a new northbound on-ramp, widening Wilmington Avenue from 223rd Street to 220th Street, modifying the existing southbound on-ramp, and the construction of a right-turn lane from Wilmington Avenue northbound to 223rd Street eastbound by widening the existing bridge over the Dominguez Channel (Exhibit No. 1).
The entire project is composed of five construction stages, as follows:
|
Construction Stage |
Description |
|
Stage 1 |
Construction of portion of southbound on-ramp; construction of new northbound on-ramp, retaining walls, sound walls, and bridge over the Dominguez Channel |
|
Stage 2 |
Removal of existing raised medians and construction of temporary pavement |
|
Stage 3 |
Widening east side of Wilmington Avenue from 223rd Street to existing northbound on-ramp; construction of retaining walls, portion of southbound on-ramp, maintenance pull-outs, guard rails, northbound auxiliary lane and shoulder; and bridge widening at southeast corner of 223rd Street and Wilmington Avenue |
|
Stage 4 |
Widening west side of Wilmington Avenue from 220th Street to 223rd Street |
|
Stage 5 |
Construct central portion of Wilmington Avenue and portion of 223rd Street and restore raised medians |
In February 2018, the contractor completed approximately 95% of the improvements per the original plans and specifications including changes due to field conditions and changes as requested by other agencies such as California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). As the contractor nears completion, Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) has also completed the majority of their scope of work at the railroad grade crossing on Wilmington Avenue adjacent to the I-405 freeway southbound on/off ramps. UPRR’s scope of work included significant improvements at the crossing that involved new safety features, such as several warning beacon lights, audible devices, and a gate-down mechanism that provides a safer area for pedestrians and motorists.
Since the UPRR signal equipment is immediately adjacent to Caltrans’ right-of-way, which has several traffic signals owned and operated by Caltrans, both UPRR’s safety components and Caltrans’ traffic signals must have a preemption system in place that would allow automatic communication and synchronization with each other in order for all the safety features to properly function.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) oversees the safety of railroads, rail transit systems, and railroad crossings in California. One of their transportation responsibilities includes safety of all railroad crossings in California, including the power to evaluate their design, location, terms of installation, operation, maintenance, use, and warning devices.
In 2016, CPUC issued a directive to Caltrans requiring a more robust preemptive system than what Caltrans had originally approved to be implemented for this project. The City’s contractor placed the conductors per plan, however, current CPUC requirements mandate additional conductors and additional regulatory signs which were not identified by Caltrans until most of the improvements had been constructed, and the issue became more apparent when Caltrans and UPRR were requested by the City to begin system operation. The CPUC’s new requirements caused design revisions to the 2012 Caltrans approved plans.
The revised plans based on the preemptive system requirements generated additional traffic safety features that need to be installed in order to satisfy the requirements of CPUC and Caltrans. These roadway traffic features involve placement of several traffic regulatory signs, pulling additional conductors, modification of curb ramps, painting of pavement markings, fabrication and installation of an additional signal head along with traffic loop detectors, and slight adjustments to warning-beacon lights. UPRR crews will eventually come back to the site to move a few interim devices to their ultimate location and complete electrical wiring to put the system in operation. Soon after all the changes are in place, and all warning-signal lights, traffic signals and other warning devices have passed inspection and the system is in operation, UPRR will allow for all lanes to be open for through traffic. Aside from these preemptive items, there are a few punch list items from Caltrans that need to be addressed, such as: adjustment to a concrete barrier wall located adjacent to the 405 southbound on-ramp; placement of crash cushions at the end of the concrete barrier; and relocation of a traffic controller cabinet.
These added features have resulted in more work for the contractor to accomplish, which requires more inspection and extended construction management services by Hill International Company, who continues to play a vital role to ensure that construction is completed in a satisfactory manner. In previous months, due to numerous construction activities and extra work which involved night and weekend inspections, Hill provided services beyond the estimated hours of inspection, at no additional cost. They continue to immediately address inquiries that arise, and continue to be very proactive in responding to any needs associated with the project.
The construction management firm’s last contract amendment was based on a completion date of June 2018, including post-construction items. Unfortunately, due to the additional unforeseen work dictated by other agencies, which have delayed completion of the project, the City needs to continue the construction management services from Hill, to oversee the construction of the remaining items. The construction management firm requested an additional fee of $40,000 that will cover the substantial estimated hours of inspection and coordination required to handle the remaining work, which must be performed at night and/or the weekends in order to efficiently conduct the operation, as well as to lessen the impact to traffic during work days.
For the reasons state above, Staff recommends that the City Council approve the Fifth Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with Hill, to accommodate the extended project timeline through June 2019, for a negotiated fee of not-to-exceed $40,000.00 (Exhibit No. 2). This recommended amount of additional compensation was approved as part of the recent budget amendment approved by the City Council for this project on November 7. The new total Contract Sum will be $4,858,765.32.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
No additional appropriation is required as part of this staff report.
This is a multi-year project for which funds are budgeted each fiscal year in the Carson Successor Agency bond fund account; the state-funded Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) - 2007 Call for Projects; the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act - A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) federal funds; and the Federal Interstate Maintenance Discretionary funds. Actual expenditures to date total $36,914,365, including the $2,470,886 FY17-18 appropriation approved by City Council on July 16, 2018.
The total project completion cost including design, construction, construction management, utility relocations, and right-of-way acquisition is now estimated to be $38,416,245. The grand total of funds budgeted for this project is $39,250,113.00.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Existing and future layout. (p. 5)
2. Fifth Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with TCM Group, Inc., a Hill International Company. (pp. 6-11).
1.
Prepared by: Raymond Velasco, P.E., Senior Civil Engineer