The High Trestle Trail Extension - SW Ordnance Road to SE Magazine Road project includes construction of a PCC trail along old railroad grade and under US Highway 69 by means of a cast-in-place RCB pedestrian tunnel with formliner. The project also consists of earthwork, PCC street pavement, water main, storm sewer, traffic signal modifications and other related items generally located both west and east of South Ankeny Boulevard/US Highway 69 and north of the SW Ordnance Road & South Ankeny Boulevard intersection.
The construction improvements include approximately 6,700 CY of earthwork, 710 LF of storm sewer and culvert, 275 LF of 16-inch water main, 170 LF of trenchless 16-inch water main in 30-inch steel casing pipe, 3,440 SY of 6-inch PCC trail, 250 CY of cast-in-place RCB pedestrian tunnel with formliner, tunnel lighting, tunnel fencing, traffic signal modifications, subgrade preparation, modified subbase, subdrain and removal and replacement of roadway pavement and sidewalks, traffic control, erosion control, surface restoration and miscellaneous associated work necessary to complete the project.
This project was originally bid on January 29, 2019. Bids were rejected at the February 4, 2019 Council Meeting due to higher than anticipated bid prices. The project was repackaged with revisions to the construction staging, allowable number of working days and some construction methods.
The bid opening for the project was held on Tuesday, May 14, 2019. Four (4) bids were received as follows:
1. Halbrook Excavating $2,228,387.75
2. Absolute Concrete $2,307,669.47
3. Rognes Corp $2,556,921.60
4. S.M. Hentges & Sons, Inc. $2,989,240.46
The Engineer's estimate for the project was $1,753,858.00. The bids ranged from approximately 27% to 70% above the estimate.
The City's Public Works staff, the design engineering consultant and the Iowa DOT reviewed and discussed the bid results. Also, Public Works staff contacted several contractors following the bid letting to obtain feedback. Most of the contractors had similar comments including:
1) Despite the changes that were made from the original contract documents, the project is still complex and involves numerous specialty subcontractors which will require a significant amount of project management and coordination by the prime contractor.
2) Currently, there is a lot of public improvement and private development work occurring in central Iowa. Because of this, there are less contractors available for new projects and construction prices are increasing. At this time, contractors expect this trend to continue into 2020.
3) Several contractors, particularly underground utility contractors, do not have available capacity in 2019 due to the large amount of carry-over work from 2018 and a wet beginning to the 2019 construction season.
The High Trestle Trail Extension project is a high priority project for the City and central Iowa. Given the bid results and feedback received from contractors, the design engineering consultant and the Iowa DOT following the bid letting, Public Works recommends awarding the project to Halbrook Excavating of Ankeny, Iowa. Halbrook has previously completed major CIP projects for the City and they have the experience to undertake this project.
Pending project approval and award by the City Council, the contractor will be required to start the project no later than July 29, 2019. They will have 60 working days to substantially complete Site "A" work, which is generally work not impacting vehicular traffic along South Ankeny Boulevard. The contractor will then have 85 working days beginning in April or May of 2020 to substantially complete Site "B" work, which is generally work impacting vehicular traffic along South Ankeny Boulevard. The Contractor will then have 25 working days to substantially complete Site "C" work, which is generally final grading and remaining trail paving. After the overall project has been substantially completed, the contractor will have 10 working days to fully complete the project. This schedule should provide a Fall 2020 project completion. If the contractor succeeds in substantially completing the work for Site "B" in less than eighty-five (85) working days, an enhancement of payment equal to One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500) per working day remaining, up to a maximum amount of Thirty Thousand Dollars ($30,000) will be issued to the Contractor. |