"No matter what they find, it should be part of the contract," Young said. "I don't believe all the time the lowest bid is the best bid. We need to be holding these bidders accountable for the job they bid on."
Young said the number and size of extra order orders in recent years raises "serious concerns."
We have discussed OFTEN the crime and corruption in CITY HALL and especially with BOARD OF ESTIMATES. Baltimore has a long history of CRONY/CORRUPT/CRIMINAL outsource BIDDING STRUCTURE for PUBLIC WORKS. A corporation which deliberately bids low and is then given extensions of money as contracts are renewed -----this is ILLEGAL. It is RACKETEERING. It is a FEDERAL CRIME.
Above we see a quote from a city council PRESIDENT who sits on the BOARD OF ESTIMATES and makes that 3 member majority vote which always GIVES THESE BIDS AND OVER RUNS to the same corporations this city council PRESIDENT is saying he does not support. The BALTIMORE SUN KNOWS this as does everyone in Baltimore.
What we have today as we discuss WATER MAIN BREAKS and effects on public health and safety-----is just this. We have EMERGENCIES everywhere------this immediately creates conditions of OVER-BILLING. It creates the need to bring work crews from all over a region---much like downed-power lines after a storm.
A city releases any oversight and accountability when all PUBLIC WORKS is done in EMERGENCY mode. This problem with LOW-BIDDING makes it impossible for HONEST construction businesses to WIN because they no to deliberately low-bid a contract with expectations of extensions is ILLEGAL.
THOSE CONTRACTORS NOT WANTING TO BREAK THE LAW-----NEVER WIN THESE BIDS---ONLY THOSE CONTRACTORS STAGING THE AWARD FOR THEMSELVES -------WILLING TO LIE, CHEAT, AND STEAL PUBLIC MONEY WIN THESE AWARDS.
DELAYED maintenance is the history of these few decades of FAILED STATE FAILED ENGINEERING.
The cost overruns in this article ARE LOW-BALL-------the damage to this RACKETEERING is far greater.
Fixing Baltimore's aging infrastructure goes $105 million over budget since 2012
By Luke Broadwater
| The Baltimore Sun |
Jul 16, 2016 | 3:37 PM
Private contractors fixing Baltimore's water mains, repaving roads and rehabbing buildings routinely go over budget — at a cost to taxpayers of more than $105 million over the past four years, a Baltimore Sun review has found.
Construction jobs done for Baltimore's government ran over budget 375 times since 2012 — sometimes ballooning to two, three or even four times their original cost.
"This is ridiculous," said City Comptroller Joan M. Pratt, who sits on the Board of Estimates and has questioned the frequency of cost overruns in Baltimore. "These are some huge numbers. I don't believe we should have this many extra work orders."
Critics, including Pratt and City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young, say they are concerned that contractors are bidding low to win work before running up the bill on the true costs of the project.
JACK YOUNG AND PRATT CALLED 'CRITICS' ARE THE BOARD OF ESTIMATE MAJORITY VOTERS AWARDING THESE CONTRACTS=====THIS IS FAKE NEWS TRYING TO MAKE THESE TWO PLAYERS LOOK CONCERNED.
But city officials in Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's administration say the extra work orders are simply a cost of doing infrastructure work in an aging city where complications such as pipe breaks and sinkholes frequently occur in the middle of a job.
"We never know what we're going to run into when we start digging," said Adrienne Barnes, spokeswoman for the city's Transportation Department. "We make sure we keep an eye on a contractor's activities, but it's a very old city."
Cost overruns on government contracts are not unique to Baltimore. Boston's so-called "Big Dig" tunnel famously ran more than $12 billion over budget.
More recently, the Silver Spring Transit Center in Montgomery County is $50 million over original estimates. A hospital in Denver is more than $1 billion over budget. A train station at the site of the former World Trade Center in New York is more than $2 billion above its budget.
But in a cash-strapped Baltimore, which has closed recreation centers and fire companies and cut hundreds of officer positions in the Police Department, the cost overruns have drawn scrutiny.
The four largest since 2012:
•Archer Western Contractors' work on the Back River Wastewater Treatment plant is $16.2 million over its $263.6 million budget. City officials say cost overruns were caused, in part, by newly discovered high chromium levels in the soil at the site that required remediation. The plant needs to be updated to reduce pollution levels in the Chesapeake Bay.
•Spiniello Cos.' contract to make any urgent water main repairs in the city ballooned by $16.1 million over its original $10.5 million bid. Extra work orders were needed because more water mains burst than expected, including several breaks near Mount Royal Avenue that leaked into the Amtrak railroad tunnel under North Avenue.
•Cianbro's overhaul of the Pennington Avenue Bridge ran over initial projections when structural problems were discovered as city engineers did more work at the site. It ended up costing $11.4 million more than the original $14.5 million contract.
•Allan Myers' work to update the Montebello Plant Finished Water Reservoir, which was built in the early 1900s and is badly deteriorating, ran $6.9 million over budget after it was discovered that two huge sliding gates at the plant were in "poor condition and in need of repair," among other problems.
Cianbro officials declined to discuss the contract, referring questions to city officials. Other contractors did not respond to requests for comment.
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The OBAMA EPA-------directing the burying of fresh water reservoirs across the US under the guise of TERRORISM----someone poisoning water supply. Our US public works system was the most successful design of moving large amounts of water to US cities and communities so effect that our US citizens rarely failed in accessing fresh water. We have R AND D technology existing which can detect almost ANY toxic chemical which may fall into this water supply.
The answer to threats to safety with public water would be installation of DETECTION TECHNOLOGY----this is so inexpensive compared to what we see in this article ----that it is ridiculous-----it screams----
THERE ARE OTHER GOALS TO THESE DEVELOPMENT DESIGNS.
What we have shouted for these few decades is just that. The intent of underground fresh water tanks is to tie it to what will be GLOBAL FACTORY---GLOBAL CORPORATE CAMPUS access----ONLY.
Today's citizens can SEE the water they drink------with under ground tanks people will not even be aware that water is beneath them. Accessing fresh water which is not POLLUTED or TOXIC will become a major and almost impossible action in MOVING FORWARD US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES.
If we look at the damage done in Chinese Foreign Economic Zones---it is ALWAYS the fresh water sources hit first in environmental degradation.
At a time when fresh water access is threatened----we see our reservoirs heading under ground.
BALTIMORE BREW does a good job in analyzing fiscal data----it never speaks to what goals these new infrastructure have----and why simply moving money takes priority today as global banking 1% wait for the right time to do REAL INFRASTRUCTURE building.
Environment
by Mark Reutter10:23 am
Oct 4, 2018The Druid Lake construction mess: It didn’t have to be this wayThe story behind the costly, problem-plagued project to bury reservoir water in underground tanks. SECOND OF TWO PARTS.
Above: The western end of the Druid Lake, centerpiece of Baltimore’s most famous park, will remain a sprawling construction site through at least 2022. It didn’t start this way. (Mark Reutter)
In 2009, the Sheila Dixon administration believed that it had found a way to keep historic Druid Lake intact while satisfying the Environmental Protection Agency’s new regulation to improve water quality nationwide.
The regulation, known as the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule or LT2, required reservoirs holding “finished,” or treated, water either to be enclosed with a roof or to install advanced chemical treatments before the water is discharged to homes and businesses.
For its small storage reservoirs at Guilford (near Loyola University) and East Towson (off Hillen Road), Baltimore’s Public Works Department opted to build covers over the facilities.
But for the two large drinking water reservoirs at Druid Lake and Ashburton, the city decided to use ultraviolet (UV) disinfection to treat the water.
This would keep the reservoirs – long the aesthetic centerpieces of historic parks – intact, while keeping disruption to surrounding communities at a minimum.
Disinfection Plan ApprovedThe Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) approved the disinfection plan on May 1, 2009. The Dixon-era Board of Estimates authorized the execution of the agreement on September 2, 2009, and the EPA later ratified the settlement.
The Board of Estimates agreed to get everything up and running by “a final completion date of December 31, 2018.”
FACT BOX: Druid Lake is the region’s largest drinking water reservoir. When on-line, it supplies between 12 and 15 billion gallons of the 93 billion gallons of water consumed annually by households and businesses – or 12-16% of the total.
To get the process moving, Whitman, Requardt & Associates was asked to design the UV facility at Druid Lake, and Hazen & Sawyer/AECOM was hired to plan the UV plant for Lake Ashburton (Hanlon Park).
All of that changed with the incoming Rawlings-Blake administration.
The new mayor replaced DPW Director David E. Scott with Alfred Foxx, and Foxx installed Rudolph S. (Rudy) Chow, a retired sanitary engineer from Montgomery County, as chief of the water bureau.
By early 2012, WR&A had located potential sites for the UV plant at Druid Lake as well as a “conceptual” price for the treatment plant and the related pipes – $40 million.
The original timetable DPW submitted to the EPA called for construction to be completed this year. Currently, the Druid Lake and Ashburton projects are in their beginning construction phases. (EPA archives, Baltimore Brew FOIA request)
But Chow wasn’t interested. In a June 27, 2012 letter to EPA’s regional office, Chow wrote, “We have changed course . . . and have decided to design underground tanks to replace both reservoirs.”
Starting AnewChow later said his decision was based on “community feedback” from then-City Councilman Nick Mosby and residents in Reservoir Hill, some of whom objected to the potential siting of the UV plant on a vacant parcel of land on Druid Park Lake Drive. (WR&A outlined other sites, such as near a pumping station on the Jones Falls and at the tennis courts north of the lake.)
But Chow said he was thinking on a broader scale, namely his hunch that EPA might disallow the use of UV disinfection in the future and demand that all drinking water reservoirs be covered.
He ordered WR&A to develop a “piping concept” that would involve the construction of two enormous below-grade tanks at the western end of Druid Lake and the reconfiguration of water mains under the park to bring “finished” water directly to the tanks.
The new plan meant that Druid Lake would no longer be a finished water reservoir and could be converted for recreational uses. At a June 26, 2012 community meeting, Chow called this prospect a “win-win” for the city and for park goers.
Chow also changed the direction of the Ashburton project, vetoing the disinfection plant in favor of two sprawling storage tanks at Hanlon Park.
Escalating CostsNot publicly discussed by Chow, Mayor Rawlings-Blake and others was the cost of the piping concept.
WR&A estimated the new design for Druid Lake at $80 million, or double the disinfection plant proposal. Roughly the same escalation in cost was estimated at Lake Ashburton, where the proposed tanks would be buried under 50 feet of solid rock.
The high initial cost of the storage tanks would be offset by lower maintenance and operating costs, according to WR&A.
But looming over these savings was the life expectancy of the underground tanks. When would they have to be rebuilt or replaced?
WR&A did not directly answer the question. Instead, the consultant noted a 2012 memorandum, “Tanks generally have long-life expectancy, and these tanks would be designed to also have an extended life.”
A June 2012 memo describes Chow’s decision to scrap plans for a UV disinfection in favor of two giant underground storage tanks. (DPW)
Cofferdam on the CheapAs it turned out, WR&A vastly underestimated the costs of the storage tanks.
When bids were opened by clerks at the Board of Estimates in the summer of 2016, they ranged from $134.5 million to $155.9 million.
The low bidder was Oscar Renda, a Texas contractor who was a newcomer in Baltimore construction circles. (Renda would also be awarded the Lake Ashburton tank contract worth $137 million.)
Renda beat out two local competitors, as well as the DPW’s own estimate of $156 million, by proposing a cofferdam on the cheap.
The contractor would build the dam at Druid Lake not with conventional steel sheet pilings, but rather with 100,000 tons of rip-rap rock, basically rubble.
The rip-rap had the potential of introducing considerable amounts of quarry residue into the reservoir, not to speak of churning up long-settled bottom sediments.
Another wild card was this consideration, according to Karen Moran – such large-scale construction so close to an active drinking water reservoir had not been attempted before by DPW or other surveyed water systems. (Moran, senior vice president at WR&A, made this statement at a July forum at the Ashburton Water Filtration Plant.)
Chow petitioned the EPA in 2014 to extend the deadline for Baltimore’s compliance as the scope of Druid Hill and Ashburton projects expanded. The current completion dates are the end of 2022. (EPA archives, Baltimore Brew FOIA request)
Curtains Too ShortTo avoid possible contamination, Oscar Renda proposed – and DPW approved – the placement of “turbidity curtains” on the drinking water side of the cofferdam.
The curtains didn’t work.
Shortly after construction of the cofferdam began last fall, turbidity readings shot up, indicating that the water was being contaminated by sediment and other solids.
The lake was taken “off line,” meaning it was not supplying the system with its expected 30-40 million gallons of water per day.
The reservoir was used off and on as a source of the region’s drinking water in November and December 2017 before it was shut down completely in January.
No AnswersDPW officials have repeatedly declined to say why the turbidity curtains didn’t work.
Lauren Swiecicki, chief of DPW engineering and construction, said the matter is “under investigation,” while consultant Moran offered this explanation: “The particulates were finer than we expected.”
Informed sources tell The Brew that, among other factors, the curtains were too short and did not reach the bottom of the reservoir. This caused sediment churned up by the dumped stone to migrate into the drinking water.
Asked about this scenario, Swiecicki spoke of DPW’s best intentions, saying, “We do the best we can and we try to make the best choices and then adjust as we go along.”
The west side of Druid Lake has been drained and will eventually become the home of water tanks buried in the former lake bottom. Mark Reutter)
“We are in good hands”Needless to say, the closing of Druid Lake has punched a hole in the city’s overall water network.
Druid Lake is the system’s largest drinking water reservoir. When on-line, it supplies between 12 and 15 billion gallons of the approximately 93 billion gallons of water consumed annually by the system’s 1.8 million customers – or 12-16% of the total.
Chow was asked about the affect of a drought on Baltimore’s water supply in a recent interview on WYPR. He said the following:
“We are watching this very, very carefully. . . Let’s just say we have a drought starting next week. We will have to react to it, and we may have to call for conservation and all that. At this time, we see no need. We have enough water to send to every household we provide water for. We are in good hands.”
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PROGRESSIVE PUBLIC WORKS PROJECTS in 1930s gave Baltimore its current highly functioning public water system ---that is until FAILED STATES FAILED ENGINEERING no maintenance allowed all to decay.
As with the PROMENADE along harbor ----these plans come with landscape seemingly beautiful as I described yesterday. But these IMAGES do not reflect the realities of QUALITY OF LIFE goals in
MOVING FORWARD -----HIDDEN FRESH WATER.
We describe Greater Baltimore and all of MARYLAND as hyper-global factory industrialized so people will see to where that FRESH WATER will be delivered. LIVE WHERE YOU WORK------if we KNOW those CHINESE WORKERS in overseas FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES-----lived where they worked----and are dead, dying, paying for being there---why would we allow these same structures to be built in US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES?
So, here are locations of PUMPING STATIONS----and designs which our 99% of WE THE BALTIMORE citizens have no idea how long these projects take---we do KNOW we will pay CRAZY WATER RATES for infrastructure we do not NEED OR WANT.
'One has to wonder whether LTE2SWTR really brings better or safer water to the region. One can think of much else in Baltimore's water and sewer system that would need upgrades and would result in a measurable difference in water quality, namely the decrepit state of all the mains'.
Since the goals of global banking 1% OLD WORLD KINGS in MOVING FORWARD is building US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES filled with global factories using fewer and fewer and fewer actual HUMANS ------these designs are not DESIGNED FOR 99% OF WE THE PEOPLE.
'"When finished, the New Druid Lake will be better than ever, with increased public amenities and more open green space", DPW's press release states. But funding for amenities is just as murky as the future of the reduced now merely decorative lake itself which would need measures to keep the water fresh that haven't been figured out in full'.
Community Architect Daily
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Baltimore water: A tangled web and smaller lakes
In 1920 Baltimore was a shining beacon of progressive public works and Baltimore local water engineer and Hopkins professor Abel Wolman a hero. His Baltimore water system lived even longer than he (Wolman died in 1989 at the age of 96) but decay and new rules have forced a multi billion dollar overhaul of Baltimore's water and sewer infrastructure including several open reservoirs located inside the city limits.
Water has been a municipal affair since 1854 when the City of Baltimore bought the private Baltimore Water Works which had incorporated in 1808. Slowly but surely water supply from fountains and wells was changed to include water from the Jones Falls and storage and pumping stations were added. Lake Montebello and the 55 acre Druid Lake (then called Lake Chapman) were completed in 1881 and in 1871 respectively. Eventually Lake Ashburton was added and all lakes connected with pumping stations. The matter was further complicated after an additional water supply was created tapping into the Susquehannah during extreme drought conditions. All in all the current water service area encompasses some 560 square miles and serves 1.8 million people via 4,500 miles of pipe.
Under normal operating conditions, water flows by gravity from the Loch Raven Reservoir to the Montebello Filtration Plants through the Gunpowder falls-Montebello tunnel, a concrete lined tunnel, 12 fee in diameter, and approximately seven miles in length, this tunnel was constructed through solid rock.
14 acres less lake: Submerged tanks at the historic Druid Lake Park (DPW)
When the water level of the dam is lowered a few feet below the crest of the dam, the discharge valves at Prettyboy Dam are opened. The water released flows down the bed of the gunpowder Falls into Loch Raven Reservoir, thus maintaining the water level in the latter reservoir at a predetermined elevation. If the level in the Loch Raven Reservoir drops too low for gravity flow, water can be pumped from the Loch Raven reservoir ti the Montebello Filtration Plants by a pumping station located at the plants. The station, called the Montebello Raw Water Distribution Center, was constructed in 1958 in conjunction with the Susquehanna Water Supply Project. The station contains three pumps, each having a capacity of 120 million gallons per day, and appurtenant equipment.
Water from Liberty Reservoir flows through a concrete lined tunnel, 10 feet in diameter, to the Ashburton filtration Plant, a distance of approximately 12.5 miles. This tunnel was constructed through solid rock. (source)
Since the service system is truly regional, it is since 1979 partly managed by a regional Reservoir Watershed Agreement that was renewed on 1984 and again in 2005 under the oversight of a Watershed Protection Committee at the Baltimore Metropolitan Council. Watershed and drinking water sources are one thing, stroage tanks and treatment plants are another.
While the downtown sinkholes from sewer main failures and the water main breaks causing fountains and flooding have received widespread media coverage, the much more visible aspect of Baltimore's open reservoir lakes largely flowed under the radar, stirring little interest except for the immediately surrounding communities.
The beauty of man-made lakes enhanced city neighborhoods and reliably provided healthy drinking water for over 100 years, especially since Wolman had introduced chlorination of drinking water and vastly reduced the risk of contamination. But no longer, in 2006, bureaucrats concerned in equal parts about clean water and homeland security offered the nation with the not very beautiful acronym monster, LTE2SWTR, which stands for Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule.
True to its forward looking history, DPW became active well before the new regulations went into effect and commissioned a study with Baltimore's engineering firm RKK which was published in 2004. For a time it was seriously feared that the terrible name would require equally terrible actions, such as giant covers over the lakes. But by 2013 Baltimore's Department of Public Works (DPW) had developed better ideas and in June 2014 DPW and the Department of Recreation and Parks (DRP) signed an agreement about two underground storage tanks in Druid Lake.
The underground storage tanks submerged in the lakes sounds a lot smarter than covering the lakes, above ground storage or additional treatment of water gained from open surfaces. However, in detail, the tank solution isn't quite as innocent as residents around Druid Lake and the Friends of Druid Lake Park have found out over the years when actual plans were presented. In the version that is currently under construction, two combined 54 million gallon water tanks will be buried at the western end of the lake and actually reduce the lake by at least 6.3 acres (earlier presentations noted 14 acres). DPW touts this as new acres of park that will include a welcome center. "When finished, the New Druid Lake will be better than ever, with increased public amenities and more open green space", DPW's press release states. But funding for amenities is just as murky as the future of the reduced now merely decorative lake itself which would need measures to keep the water fresh that haven't been figured out in full. The Druid Lake project alone is projected to cost $164.1 million and is supposed to be complete in the spring of 2022.
There is no word about funding in the DRP/DPW agreement, but from what the Board of Public Works approved it is understood that DPW will pay for widening the path on the southern part of the lake and constructing the base for a band shell. The Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks is expected to find funding to complete the band shell and related park improvements. A video of a GWWO designed bandshell can be seen here.
Construction is complete at Lake Montebello and underway underway at the $75 million Guilford Reservoir project on West Cold Spring Lane where also two large storage tanks are submerged within the footprint of the current lake. Per DPW there are four phases of the project a bypass of the 48 inch water main is complete and work on the reservoir itself, including draining it and installing tanks is underway and will be completed by August 2018. The construction of a pump station and the activation of the tanks will follow in June 2018 and be completed in June 2019 with site restoration and landscaping planned for June to November 2019. The last in the trio of reservoir-lake projects in the City will be the $120-140 million Ashburton Lake tanks. There a 2013 study shows the tanks to be submerged under Hanlon Park. A status report about compliance with the federal rule can be found here.
Residents of Baltimore City and County already feel the pinch of DPW's large construction portfolio intended to upgrade the water and sewer for the future, in their water bills.
One has to wonder whether LTE2SWTR really brings better or safer water to the region. One can think of much else in Baltimore's water and sewer system that would need upgrades and would result in a measurable difference in water quality, namely the decrepit state of all the mains. The state of supply lines to many Baltimore schools is so poor, that drinking fountains have been shut off because of lead contamination. Instead, three of Baltimore's neighborhood assets, beautiful lakes, will be construction sites for years to come.
Klaus Philipsen, FAIA
___________________________________________
So, when it comes to infrastructure tied to RESERVOIRS AND PUMPING STATIONS------EVERYONE KNOWS from where fresh water TOXICITY is coming and it is not from unknown TERRORISTS.
Fresh water scarcity partnered with growing CONTAMINATION by man-made industrial chemicals will make accessing fresh water impossible. So, is MOVING FORWARD building infrastructure to serve and provide QUALITY WATER for US city citizens ---or is it HOARDING what is available for CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY-----that is what we say----what CORPORATE FACTORIES need and they don't care if there is BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPING.
Again, as with DRUID HILL---MONTEBELLO---PRETTY BOY-----these are all PUBLIC WATER WORKS ON PUBLIC LAND. What is being built will be PRIVATE WATER WORKS ON PRIVATE LAND.
Below we see why all US PUBLIC WATER PROJECTS are filled with criminality----corruption----cronyism tied to installing PATENTED PRODUCTS like CURTAINS to keep construction from contaminating functioning reservoirs---which do not WORK-------just as we shout against the HEALTH/MEDICAL INDUSTRY PATENTING----where so many of patents don't work and end being harmful/deadly-----
GLOBAL BANKING 5% FREEMASON/GREEK PLAYERS/POLS ARE SIMPLY MOVING MONEY-
'Water Stocks: Don't Overlook This $1 Trillion Opportunity
By David Zeiler, Associate Editor, Money Morning • @DavidGZeiler • February 6, 2013
With most water delivery systems badly in need of repair or replacement, companies that supply the solutions figure to profit handsomely – making now a good time for investing in water stocks.
In the United States alone, estimates of water infrastructure needs run as high as $1 trillion'.
Here we see MOVING FORWARD is a design not tested----no one will know if it works until in place------and it is not even NEEDED. What will happen is this------these FAILED ENGINEERING simply moving money will be replaced by what will be needed for global factories or campuses when they are ready to build. Does global banking and corporations care about SEWAGE AND POLLUTION----public health vectors from failed sewage projects? Well, we have seen these several decades that THEY DON'T CARE. Why do we think they are really concerned about BACK BAY as MOVING FORWARD hyper-industrialization will make BACK BAY an environmental disaster.
Back River Project Moves Forward With New Construction Model
Wednesday May 4th, 2016
The Baltimore City Board of Estimates approved a contract Wednesday, May 4, that will allow work on the Headworks project at the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant to proceed under an innovative, cost-saving model known as Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR).
The Headworks project is needed to alleviate a hydraulic restriction that keeps sewer water from efficiently entering the treatment plant. It causes a 10-mile-long backup in the sewer system that contributes to sewer overflows in the City, particularly following hard rains.
The Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) turned to the CMAR model last year after bids to build the massive Headworks project ran more than $100 million over the estimated cost.
DPW officials are exploring the use of the CMAR model for other large infrastructure projects.
“I’m optimistic that by thinking creatively we will be able to deliver some of our projects for less money and in less time than what has become typical,” said DPW Director Rudy S. Chow, P.E. “We have billions of dollars in capital projects ahead of us, and we must continue to invest our ratepayers’ money wisely.”
A joint venture team of Clark Construction and Ulliman Schutte, LLC, won a contract for $3,839,000 to perform pre-construction services on the Back River project. The team was one of four that submitted proposals and were interviewed by members of DPW’s Office of Engineering and Construction. The Clark/Ulliman Schutte team was also approved by the Office of Boards and Commissions and the Architectural and Engineering Awards Commission.
The pre-construction process establishes the best way to perform what will be a multi-year build costing hundreds of millions of dollars. A guaranteed maximum price is also established in this early process in order to avoid cost overruns, and provides DPW with significant control over the process. The overall project schedule and cost is expected to be much less than with other construction models.
It is likely, under terms of the agreement, that the Clark/Ullimann Schutte joint venture will also be selected to perform the construction.
The Headworks project should be ready to move to construction by early next year. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.
Young said the number and size of extra order orders in recent years raises "serious concerns."
We have discussed OFTEN the crime and corruption in CITY HALL and especially with BOARD OF ESTIMATES. Baltimore has a long history of CRONY/CORRUPT/CRIMINAL outsource BIDDING STRUCTURE for PUBLIC WORKS. A corporation which deliberately bids low and is then given extensions of money as contracts are renewed -----this is ILLEGAL. It is RACKETEERING. It is a FEDERAL CRIME.
Above we see a quote from a city council PRESIDENT who sits on the BOARD OF ESTIMATES and makes that 3 member majority vote which always GIVES THESE BIDS AND OVER RUNS to the same corporations this city council PRESIDENT is saying he does not support. The BALTIMORE SUN KNOWS this as does everyone in Baltimore.
What we have today as we discuss WATER MAIN BREAKS and effects on public health and safety-----is just this. We have EMERGENCIES everywhere------this immediately creates conditions of OVER-BILLING. It creates the need to bring work crews from all over a region---much like downed-power lines after a storm.
A city releases any oversight and accountability when all PUBLIC WORKS is done in EMERGENCY mode. This problem with LOW-BIDDING makes it impossible for HONEST construction businesses to WIN because they no to deliberately low-bid a contract with expectations of extensions is ILLEGAL.
THOSE CONTRACTORS NOT WANTING TO BREAK THE LAW-----NEVER WIN THESE BIDS---ONLY THOSE CONTRACTORS STAGING THE AWARD FOR THEMSELVES -------WILLING TO LIE, CHEAT, AND STEAL PUBLIC MONEY WIN THESE AWARDS.
DELAYED maintenance is the history of these few decades of FAILED STATE FAILED ENGINEERING.
The cost overruns in this article ARE LOW-BALL-------the damage to this RACKETEERING is far greater.
Fixing Baltimore's aging infrastructure goes $105 million over budget since 2012
By Luke Broadwater
| The Baltimore Sun |
Jul 16, 2016 | 3:37 PM
Private contractors fixing Baltimore's water mains, repaving roads and rehabbing buildings routinely go over budget — at a cost to taxpayers of more than $105 million over the past four years, a Baltimore Sun review has found.
Construction jobs done for Baltimore's government ran over budget 375 times since 2012 — sometimes ballooning to two, three or even four times their original cost.
"This is ridiculous," said City Comptroller Joan M. Pratt, who sits on the Board of Estimates and has questioned the frequency of cost overruns in Baltimore. "These are some huge numbers. I don't believe we should have this many extra work orders."
Critics, including Pratt and City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young, say they are concerned that contractors are bidding low to win work before running up the bill on the true costs of the project.
JACK YOUNG AND PRATT CALLED 'CRITICS' ARE THE BOARD OF ESTIMATE MAJORITY VOTERS AWARDING THESE CONTRACTS=====THIS IS FAKE NEWS TRYING TO MAKE THESE TWO PLAYERS LOOK CONCERNED.
But city officials in Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's administration say the extra work orders are simply a cost of doing infrastructure work in an aging city where complications such as pipe breaks and sinkholes frequently occur in the middle of a job.
"We never know what we're going to run into when we start digging," said Adrienne Barnes, spokeswoman for the city's Transportation Department. "We make sure we keep an eye on a contractor's activities, but it's a very old city."
Cost overruns on government contracts are not unique to Baltimore. Boston's so-called "Big Dig" tunnel famously ran more than $12 billion over budget.
More recently, the Silver Spring Transit Center in Montgomery County is $50 million over original estimates. A hospital in Denver is more than $1 billion over budget. A train station at the site of the former World Trade Center in New York is more than $2 billion above its budget.
But in a cash-strapped Baltimore, which has closed recreation centers and fire companies and cut hundreds of officer positions in the Police Department, the cost overruns have drawn scrutiny.
The four largest since 2012:
•Archer Western Contractors' work on the Back River Wastewater Treatment plant is $16.2 million over its $263.6 million budget. City officials say cost overruns were caused, in part, by newly discovered high chromium levels in the soil at the site that required remediation. The plant needs to be updated to reduce pollution levels in the Chesapeake Bay.
•Spiniello Cos.' contract to make any urgent water main repairs in the city ballooned by $16.1 million over its original $10.5 million bid. Extra work orders were needed because more water mains burst than expected, including several breaks near Mount Royal Avenue that leaked into the Amtrak railroad tunnel under North Avenue.
•Cianbro's overhaul of the Pennington Avenue Bridge ran over initial projections when structural problems were discovered as city engineers did more work at the site. It ended up costing $11.4 million more than the original $14.5 million contract.
•Allan Myers' work to update the Montebello Plant Finished Water Reservoir, which was built in the early 1900s and is badly deteriorating, ran $6.9 million over budget after it was discovered that two huge sliding gates at the plant were in "poor condition and in need of repair," among other problems.
Cianbro officials declined to discuss the contract, referring questions to city officials. Other contractors did not respond to requests for comment.
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The OBAMA EPA-------directing the burying of fresh water reservoirs across the US under the guise of TERRORISM----someone poisoning water supply. Our US public works system was the most successful design of moving large amounts of water to US cities and communities so effect that our US citizens rarely failed in accessing fresh water. We have R AND D technology existing which can detect almost ANY toxic chemical which may fall into this water supply.
The answer to threats to safety with public water would be installation of DETECTION TECHNOLOGY----this is so inexpensive compared to what we see in this article ----that it is ridiculous-----it screams----
THERE ARE OTHER GOALS TO THESE DEVELOPMENT DESIGNS.
What we have shouted for these few decades is just that. The intent of underground fresh water tanks is to tie it to what will be GLOBAL FACTORY---GLOBAL CORPORATE CAMPUS access----ONLY.
Today's citizens can SEE the water they drink------with under ground tanks people will not even be aware that water is beneath them. Accessing fresh water which is not POLLUTED or TOXIC will become a major and almost impossible action in MOVING FORWARD US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES.
If we look at the damage done in Chinese Foreign Economic Zones---it is ALWAYS the fresh water sources hit first in environmental degradation.
At a time when fresh water access is threatened----we see our reservoirs heading under ground.
BALTIMORE BREW does a good job in analyzing fiscal data----it never speaks to what goals these new infrastructure have----and why simply moving money takes priority today as global banking 1% wait for the right time to do REAL INFRASTRUCTURE building.
Environment
by Mark Reutter10:23 am
Oct 4, 2018The Druid Lake construction mess: It didn’t have to be this wayThe story behind the costly, problem-plagued project to bury reservoir water in underground tanks. SECOND OF TWO PARTS.
Above: The western end of the Druid Lake, centerpiece of Baltimore’s most famous park, will remain a sprawling construction site through at least 2022. It didn’t start this way. (Mark Reutter)
In 2009, the Sheila Dixon administration believed that it had found a way to keep historic Druid Lake intact while satisfying the Environmental Protection Agency’s new regulation to improve water quality nationwide.
The regulation, known as the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule or LT2, required reservoirs holding “finished,” or treated, water either to be enclosed with a roof or to install advanced chemical treatments before the water is discharged to homes and businesses.
For its small storage reservoirs at Guilford (near Loyola University) and East Towson (off Hillen Road), Baltimore’s Public Works Department opted to build covers over the facilities.
But for the two large drinking water reservoirs at Druid Lake and Ashburton, the city decided to use ultraviolet (UV) disinfection to treat the water.
This would keep the reservoirs – long the aesthetic centerpieces of historic parks – intact, while keeping disruption to surrounding communities at a minimum.
Disinfection Plan ApprovedThe Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) approved the disinfection plan on May 1, 2009. The Dixon-era Board of Estimates authorized the execution of the agreement on September 2, 2009, and the EPA later ratified the settlement.
The Board of Estimates agreed to get everything up and running by “a final completion date of December 31, 2018.”
FACT BOX: Druid Lake is the region’s largest drinking water reservoir. When on-line, it supplies between 12 and 15 billion gallons of the 93 billion gallons of water consumed annually by households and businesses – or 12-16% of the total.
To get the process moving, Whitman, Requardt & Associates was asked to design the UV facility at Druid Lake, and Hazen & Sawyer/AECOM was hired to plan the UV plant for Lake Ashburton (Hanlon Park).
All of that changed with the incoming Rawlings-Blake administration.
The new mayor replaced DPW Director David E. Scott with Alfred Foxx, and Foxx installed Rudolph S. (Rudy) Chow, a retired sanitary engineer from Montgomery County, as chief of the water bureau.
By early 2012, WR&A had located potential sites for the UV plant at Druid Lake as well as a “conceptual” price for the treatment plant and the related pipes – $40 million.
The original timetable DPW submitted to the EPA called for construction to be completed this year. Currently, the Druid Lake and Ashburton projects are in their beginning construction phases. (EPA archives, Baltimore Brew FOIA request)
But Chow wasn’t interested. In a June 27, 2012 letter to EPA’s regional office, Chow wrote, “We have changed course . . . and have decided to design underground tanks to replace both reservoirs.”
Starting AnewChow later said his decision was based on “community feedback” from then-City Councilman Nick Mosby and residents in Reservoir Hill, some of whom objected to the potential siting of the UV plant on a vacant parcel of land on Druid Park Lake Drive. (WR&A outlined other sites, such as near a pumping station on the Jones Falls and at the tennis courts north of the lake.)
But Chow said he was thinking on a broader scale, namely his hunch that EPA might disallow the use of UV disinfection in the future and demand that all drinking water reservoirs be covered.
He ordered WR&A to develop a “piping concept” that would involve the construction of two enormous below-grade tanks at the western end of Druid Lake and the reconfiguration of water mains under the park to bring “finished” water directly to the tanks.
The new plan meant that Druid Lake would no longer be a finished water reservoir and could be converted for recreational uses. At a June 26, 2012 community meeting, Chow called this prospect a “win-win” for the city and for park goers.
Chow also changed the direction of the Ashburton project, vetoing the disinfection plant in favor of two sprawling storage tanks at Hanlon Park.
Escalating CostsNot publicly discussed by Chow, Mayor Rawlings-Blake and others was the cost of the piping concept.
WR&A estimated the new design for Druid Lake at $80 million, or double the disinfection plant proposal. Roughly the same escalation in cost was estimated at Lake Ashburton, where the proposed tanks would be buried under 50 feet of solid rock.
The high initial cost of the storage tanks would be offset by lower maintenance and operating costs, according to WR&A.
But looming over these savings was the life expectancy of the underground tanks. When would they have to be rebuilt or replaced?
WR&A did not directly answer the question. Instead, the consultant noted a 2012 memorandum, “Tanks generally have long-life expectancy, and these tanks would be designed to also have an extended life.”
A June 2012 memo describes Chow’s decision to scrap plans for a UV disinfection in favor of two giant underground storage tanks. (DPW)
Cofferdam on the CheapAs it turned out, WR&A vastly underestimated the costs of the storage tanks.
When bids were opened by clerks at the Board of Estimates in the summer of 2016, they ranged from $134.5 million to $155.9 million.
The low bidder was Oscar Renda, a Texas contractor who was a newcomer in Baltimore construction circles. (Renda would also be awarded the Lake Ashburton tank contract worth $137 million.)
Renda beat out two local competitors, as well as the DPW’s own estimate of $156 million, by proposing a cofferdam on the cheap.
The contractor would build the dam at Druid Lake not with conventional steel sheet pilings, but rather with 100,000 tons of rip-rap rock, basically rubble.
The rip-rap had the potential of introducing considerable amounts of quarry residue into the reservoir, not to speak of churning up long-settled bottom sediments.
Another wild card was this consideration, according to Karen Moran – such large-scale construction so close to an active drinking water reservoir had not been attempted before by DPW or other surveyed water systems. (Moran, senior vice president at WR&A, made this statement at a July forum at the Ashburton Water Filtration Plant.)
Chow petitioned the EPA in 2014 to extend the deadline for Baltimore’s compliance as the scope of Druid Hill and Ashburton projects expanded. The current completion dates are the end of 2022. (EPA archives, Baltimore Brew FOIA request)
Curtains Too ShortTo avoid possible contamination, Oscar Renda proposed – and DPW approved – the placement of “turbidity curtains” on the drinking water side of the cofferdam.
The curtains didn’t work.
Shortly after construction of the cofferdam began last fall, turbidity readings shot up, indicating that the water was being contaminated by sediment and other solids.
The lake was taken “off line,” meaning it was not supplying the system with its expected 30-40 million gallons of water per day.
The reservoir was used off and on as a source of the region’s drinking water in November and December 2017 before it was shut down completely in January.
No AnswersDPW officials have repeatedly declined to say why the turbidity curtains didn’t work.
Lauren Swiecicki, chief of DPW engineering and construction, said the matter is “under investigation,” while consultant Moran offered this explanation: “The particulates were finer than we expected.”
Informed sources tell The Brew that, among other factors, the curtains were too short and did not reach the bottom of the reservoir. This caused sediment churned up by the dumped stone to migrate into the drinking water.
Asked about this scenario, Swiecicki spoke of DPW’s best intentions, saying, “We do the best we can and we try to make the best choices and then adjust as we go along.”
The west side of Druid Lake has been drained and will eventually become the home of water tanks buried in the former lake bottom. Mark Reutter)
“We are in good hands”Needless to say, the closing of Druid Lake has punched a hole in the city’s overall water network.
Druid Lake is the system’s largest drinking water reservoir. When on-line, it supplies between 12 and 15 billion gallons of the approximately 93 billion gallons of water consumed annually by the system’s 1.8 million customers – or 12-16% of the total.
Chow was asked about the affect of a drought on Baltimore’s water supply in a recent interview on WYPR. He said the following:
“We are watching this very, very carefully. . . Let’s just say we have a drought starting next week. We will have to react to it, and we may have to call for conservation and all that. At this time, we see no need. We have enough water to send to every household we provide water for. We are in good hands.”
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PROGRESSIVE PUBLIC WORKS PROJECTS in 1930s gave Baltimore its current highly functioning public water system ---that is until FAILED STATES FAILED ENGINEERING no maintenance allowed all to decay.
As with the PROMENADE along harbor ----these plans come with landscape seemingly beautiful as I described yesterday. But these IMAGES do not reflect the realities of QUALITY OF LIFE goals in
MOVING FORWARD -----HIDDEN FRESH WATER.
We describe Greater Baltimore and all of MARYLAND as hyper-global factory industrialized so people will see to where that FRESH WATER will be delivered. LIVE WHERE YOU WORK------if we KNOW those CHINESE WORKERS in overseas FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES-----lived where they worked----and are dead, dying, paying for being there---why would we allow these same structures to be built in US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES?
So, here are locations of PUMPING STATIONS----and designs which our 99% of WE THE BALTIMORE citizens have no idea how long these projects take---we do KNOW we will pay CRAZY WATER RATES for infrastructure we do not NEED OR WANT.
'One has to wonder whether LTE2SWTR really brings better or safer water to the region. One can think of much else in Baltimore's water and sewer system that would need upgrades and would result in a measurable difference in water quality, namely the decrepit state of all the mains'.
Since the goals of global banking 1% OLD WORLD KINGS in MOVING FORWARD is building US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES filled with global factories using fewer and fewer and fewer actual HUMANS ------these designs are not DESIGNED FOR 99% OF WE THE PEOPLE.
'"When finished, the New Druid Lake will be better than ever, with increased public amenities and more open green space", DPW's press release states. But funding for amenities is just as murky as the future of the reduced now merely decorative lake itself which would need measures to keep the water fresh that haven't been figured out in full'.
Community Architect Daily
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Baltimore water: A tangled web and smaller lakes
In 1920 Baltimore was a shining beacon of progressive public works and Baltimore local water engineer and Hopkins professor Abel Wolman a hero. His Baltimore water system lived even longer than he (Wolman died in 1989 at the age of 96) but decay and new rules have forced a multi billion dollar overhaul of Baltimore's water and sewer infrastructure including several open reservoirs located inside the city limits.
Water has been a municipal affair since 1854 when the City of Baltimore bought the private Baltimore Water Works which had incorporated in 1808. Slowly but surely water supply from fountains and wells was changed to include water from the Jones Falls and storage and pumping stations were added. Lake Montebello and the 55 acre Druid Lake (then called Lake Chapman) were completed in 1881 and in 1871 respectively. Eventually Lake Ashburton was added and all lakes connected with pumping stations. The matter was further complicated after an additional water supply was created tapping into the Susquehannah during extreme drought conditions. All in all the current water service area encompasses some 560 square miles and serves 1.8 million people via 4,500 miles of pipe.
Under normal operating conditions, water flows by gravity from the Loch Raven Reservoir to the Montebello Filtration Plants through the Gunpowder falls-Montebello tunnel, a concrete lined tunnel, 12 fee in diameter, and approximately seven miles in length, this tunnel was constructed through solid rock.
14 acres less lake: Submerged tanks at the historic Druid Lake Park (DPW)
When the water level of the dam is lowered a few feet below the crest of the dam, the discharge valves at Prettyboy Dam are opened. The water released flows down the bed of the gunpowder Falls into Loch Raven Reservoir, thus maintaining the water level in the latter reservoir at a predetermined elevation. If the level in the Loch Raven Reservoir drops too low for gravity flow, water can be pumped from the Loch Raven reservoir ti the Montebello Filtration Plants by a pumping station located at the plants. The station, called the Montebello Raw Water Distribution Center, was constructed in 1958 in conjunction with the Susquehanna Water Supply Project. The station contains three pumps, each having a capacity of 120 million gallons per day, and appurtenant equipment.
Water from Liberty Reservoir flows through a concrete lined tunnel, 10 feet in diameter, to the Ashburton filtration Plant, a distance of approximately 12.5 miles. This tunnel was constructed through solid rock. (source)
Since the service system is truly regional, it is since 1979 partly managed by a regional Reservoir Watershed Agreement that was renewed on 1984 and again in 2005 under the oversight of a Watershed Protection Committee at the Baltimore Metropolitan Council. Watershed and drinking water sources are one thing, stroage tanks and treatment plants are another.
While the downtown sinkholes from sewer main failures and the water main breaks causing fountains and flooding have received widespread media coverage, the much more visible aspect of Baltimore's open reservoir lakes largely flowed under the radar, stirring little interest except for the immediately surrounding communities.
The beauty of man-made lakes enhanced city neighborhoods and reliably provided healthy drinking water for over 100 years, especially since Wolman had introduced chlorination of drinking water and vastly reduced the risk of contamination. But no longer, in 2006, bureaucrats concerned in equal parts about clean water and homeland security offered the nation with the not very beautiful acronym monster, LTE2SWTR, which stands for Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule.
True to its forward looking history, DPW became active well before the new regulations went into effect and commissioned a study with Baltimore's engineering firm RKK which was published in 2004. For a time it was seriously feared that the terrible name would require equally terrible actions, such as giant covers over the lakes. But by 2013 Baltimore's Department of Public Works (DPW) had developed better ideas and in June 2014 DPW and the Department of Recreation and Parks (DRP) signed an agreement about two underground storage tanks in Druid Lake.
The underground storage tanks submerged in the lakes sounds a lot smarter than covering the lakes, above ground storage or additional treatment of water gained from open surfaces. However, in detail, the tank solution isn't quite as innocent as residents around Druid Lake and the Friends of Druid Lake Park have found out over the years when actual plans were presented. In the version that is currently under construction, two combined 54 million gallon water tanks will be buried at the western end of the lake and actually reduce the lake by at least 6.3 acres (earlier presentations noted 14 acres). DPW touts this as new acres of park that will include a welcome center. "When finished, the New Druid Lake will be better than ever, with increased public amenities and more open green space", DPW's press release states. But funding for amenities is just as murky as the future of the reduced now merely decorative lake itself which would need measures to keep the water fresh that haven't been figured out in full. The Druid Lake project alone is projected to cost $164.1 million and is supposed to be complete in the spring of 2022.
There is no word about funding in the DRP/DPW agreement, but from what the Board of Public Works approved it is understood that DPW will pay for widening the path on the southern part of the lake and constructing the base for a band shell. The Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks is expected to find funding to complete the band shell and related park improvements. A video of a GWWO designed bandshell can be seen here.
Construction is complete at Lake Montebello and underway underway at the $75 million Guilford Reservoir project on West Cold Spring Lane where also two large storage tanks are submerged within the footprint of the current lake. Per DPW there are four phases of the project a bypass of the 48 inch water main is complete and work on the reservoir itself, including draining it and installing tanks is underway and will be completed by August 2018. The construction of a pump station and the activation of the tanks will follow in June 2018 and be completed in June 2019 with site restoration and landscaping planned for June to November 2019. The last in the trio of reservoir-lake projects in the City will be the $120-140 million Ashburton Lake tanks. There a 2013 study shows the tanks to be submerged under Hanlon Park. A status report about compliance with the federal rule can be found here.
Residents of Baltimore City and County already feel the pinch of DPW's large construction portfolio intended to upgrade the water and sewer for the future, in their water bills.
One has to wonder whether LTE2SWTR really brings better or safer water to the region. One can think of much else in Baltimore's water and sewer system that would need upgrades and would result in a measurable difference in water quality, namely the decrepit state of all the mains. The state of supply lines to many Baltimore schools is so poor, that drinking fountains have been shut off because of lead contamination. Instead, three of Baltimore's neighborhood assets, beautiful lakes, will be construction sites for years to come.
Klaus Philipsen, FAIA
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So, when it comes to infrastructure tied to RESERVOIRS AND PUMPING STATIONS------EVERYONE KNOWS from where fresh water TOXICITY is coming and it is not from unknown TERRORISTS.
Fresh water scarcity partnered with growing CONTAMINATION by man-made industrial chemicals will make accessing fresh water impossible. So, is MOVING FORWARD building infrastructure to serve and provide QUALITY WATER for US city citizens ---or is it HOARDING what is available for CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY-----that is what we say----what CORPORATE FACTORIES need and they don't care if there is BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPING.
Again, as with DRUID HILL---MONTEBELLO---PRETTY BOY-----these are all PUBLIC WATER WORKS ON PUBLIC LAND. What is being built will be PRIVATE WATER WORKS ON PRIVATE LAND.
Below we see why all US PUBLIC WATER PROJECTS are filled with criminality----corruption----cronyism tied to installing PATENTED PRODUCTS like CURTAINS to keep construction from contaminating functioning reservoirs---which do not WORK-------just as we shout against the HEALTH/MEDICAL INDUSTRY PATENTING----where so many of patents don't work and end being harmful/deadly-----
GLOBAL BANKING 5% FREEMASON/GREEK PLAYERS/POLS ARE SIMPLY MOVING MONEY-
'Water Stocks: Don't Overlook This $1 Trillion Opportunity
By David Zeiler, Associate Editor, Money Morning • @DavidGZeiler • February 6, 2013
With most water delivery systems badly in need of repair or replacement, companies that supply the solutions figure to profit handsomely – making now a good time for investing in water stocks.
In the United States alone, estimates of water infrastructure needs run as high as $1 trillion'.
Here we see MOVING FORWARD is a design not tested----no one will know if it works until in place------and it is not even NEEDED. What will happen is this------these FAILED ENGINEERING simply moving money will be replaced by what will be needed for global factories or campuses when they are ready to build. Does global banking and corporations care about SEWAGE AND POLLUTION----public health vectors from failed sewage projects? Well, we have seen these several decades that THEY DON'T CARE. Why do we think they are really concerned about BACK BAY as MOVING FORWARD hyper-industrialization will make BACK BAY an environmental disaster.
Back River Project Moves Forward With New Construction Model
Wednesday May 4th, 2016
The Baltimore City Board of Estimates approved a contract Wednesday, May 4, that will allow work on the Headworks project at the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant to proceed under an innovative, cost-saving model known as Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR).
The Headworks project is needed to alleviate a hydraulic restriction that keeps sewer water from efficiently entering the treatment plant. It causes a 10-mile-long backup in the sewer system that contributes to sewer overflows in the City, particularly following hard rains.
The Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) turned to the CMAR model last year after bids to build the massive Headworks project ran more than $100 million over the estimated cost.
DPW officials are exploring the use of the CMAR model for other large infrastructure projects.
“I’m optimistic that by thinking creatively we will be able to deliver some of our projects for less money and in less time than what has become typical,” said DPW Director Rudy S. Chow, P.E. “We have billions of dollars in capital projects ahead of us, and we must continue to invest our ratepayers’ money wisely.”
A joint venture team of Clark Construction and Ulliman Schutte, LLC, won a contract for $3,839,000 to perform pre-construction services on the Back River project. The team was one of four that submitted proposals and were interviewed by members of DPW’s Office of Engineering and Construction. The Clark/Ulliman Schutte team was also approved by the Office of Boards and Commissions and the Architectural and Engineering Awards Commission.
The pre-construction process establishes the best way to perform what will be a multi-year build costing hundreds of millions of dollars. A guaranteed maximum price is also established in this early process in order to avoid cost overruns, and provides DPW with significant control over the process. The overall project schedule and cost is expected to be much less than with other construction models.
It is likely, under terms of the agreement, that the Clark/Ullimann Schutte joint venture will also be selected to perform the construction.
The Headworks project should be ready to move to construction by early next year. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.
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