Local Government Review

1
Local Government Review

• Paul M. Benning, P.E.
• Interim Local Government Engineer
• March 4, 2009

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2009 Construction Conference

• Construction Division has lined up a great
  program for this conference
• There are no simple projects any more
• All projects come with more strings attached for
  both Preliminary Engineer (PCR and Design) or
  during Construction Engineering
• The program this afternoon and tomorrow morning
  will give you a chance to learn more about the
  new methods of construction and new monitoring
  requirements

3
Stimulus/Regular Projects

• This year there will be a lot of stimulus
  projects along with the regular projects being
  constructed
• These projects were designed using our new Design
  Guidelines that were developed in March 2007
• These Guidelines included Preventative
  Maintenance, Minor Rehabilitation, Structural
  Improvements, Major Improvements, and
  New/Reconstruction projects.
• These were developed to create a more cost
  effective way to fix the roads.

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Stimulus/Regular Projects

• I want to talk about the first two
• Preventative Maintenance Projects
• Minor Rehabilitation Projects
• Preventative Maintenance Asphalt overlays with
  a 2.0 inch maximum (no allowance for rut
  filling), repairs of depressed cracks, minor
  concrete repairs (less than 10 of the pavement
  surface area per mile), dowel bar retrofit, and
  diamond grinding, etc.

5
Stimulus/Regular Projects

• Minor Rehabilitation Asphalt overlays 2.0 to
  3.0 inches, depressed area repairs and asphalt
  overlays, mill and overlay, cold in-place
  recycling, bridge approach repairs, deck
  overlays, guardrail repairs, etc.
• These were developed to create a more cost
  effective way to fix the roads

6
PCRs/Designs and Filenet

• As mentioned last year, on State Highway
  projects, the project concept report, and the
  plans are being completed and sent in
  electronically
• This allows the project concepts and plans to be
  stored electronically in Filenet which is much
  easier than scanning in a paper document
• In the Local Government Division we are asking
  the cities and counties to continue to submit the
  PCR and plans electronically

7
PSE and TSL Meetings

• Everyone is busy Districts, Consultants, FHWA,
  Central Office, Cities, and Counties
• In order for the PSE and TSL meetings to go
  more smoothly and on time, the preliminary plans
  should be turned in three weeks ahead of time so
  they can be reviewed
• Also, work with the Districts and schedule your
  PSEs and TSLs at least three weeks prior to
  the actual meeting

8
CE Agreements

• On City and County Projects, send any
  Construction Engineering (CE) agreements to the
  District Office three weeks ahead of when you
  need them reviewed
• The Districts will only review the time line
  proposed for the project to see if it is in line
  with how you staff the project
• The cost per hour and overhead rate are audited
  hours and we will review them

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CE Agreements

• If the number of hours are reasonable for a
  project, please send me an e-mail saying the
  proposed are OK.
• If they are too high or too low, please visit
  with the consultant and work out an adjustment
• Consultants, Counties, and Cities, please visit
  with the Districts if there are problems on your
  project EARLY!

10
Surveys

• SURVEY We strongly encourage the consultants to
  send in your head surveyors and have them visit
  with our survey folks in Bismarck
• Over 50 of the surveys for plans that are being
  submitted still do not follow the Chapter 19 for
  surveying and have a lot of items that are
  missing
• It takes less time to do the surveys in the
  NDDOTs format than it does to do them your way
  and end up redoing them

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Surveys

• Starting a few years back, if a survey was done
  incorrectly, we will not pay to have it redone
• The same philosophy holds true today. The
  learning curve is over. Everyone should know how
  to do the survey in our format

12
Plan Development Questions

• Districts For Preliminary Engineering, if you
  are developing a PCR/ELC or a set of plans,
  please call the Design Division for state highway
  projects or the Local Government Division for
  urban projects if you have questions
• If something doesnt look right in the field and
  you have questions, please call the designer and
  get the questions resolved and fix it in the field

13
Construction Questions

• Finally We are all going to have a busy
  construction season this year
• Important last message If you find a mistake,
  talk to those responsible, identify the problem,
  get if fix, and move on.

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• Questions?