Hillsborough County, Florida, contracted with V&A and our teaming partner to provide Construction Engineering and Observation services for the Bell Shoals Road Widening project. This project included a complete rebuild of the roadway and drainage, as well as the replacement of all existing utilities. V&A’s role included contract administration related to utilities, administration of the tree removal contract, utility coordination (wet and telecom), utility inspection services, and GPS data collection. The project included a 3-mile stretch of Bell Shoals Road between Knowles Road and Fishhawk Boulevard in Tampa, FL. It required the relocation and installation of over 31,000 LF of 6-inch to 16-inch water mains and force mains.
V&A supported the construction administration efforts by reviewing and approving pay applications, negotiating change orders, ensuring schedule compliance, coordinating review and responses to submittals and requests for information, attending weekly progress meetings, developing a substantial completion punchlist, and close-out documentation, including verification and certification of the utility record drawings. V&A provided quality assurance by monitoring on-site construction activities and materials to verify that work was in accordance with the contract’s plans, specifications, and special conditions. V&A provided coordination for relocating the electrical, communications, and gas utilities until the contractor was on-site and assumed that role. V&A administered and managed the contract for tree removal within the project area, including solicitation of proposals, contract preparation, scheduling, and payment approval. Finally, as the Engineer in Responsible Charge of Utility Construction, V&A prepared permit clearance documents to regulatory agencies to close the permits and put the new utilities in service.
V&A provided value engineering services by making design changes to the developer-designed plans to comply with the County technical standards and as a cost savings/benefit to the project and taxpayers. Value Engineering primarily targeted the aerial bridge pipe design, redundant system valves, and unnecessary pipe casings for an estimated cost savings of $200,000. The aerial pipe support structure was simplified to reduce construction costs. Redundant valves were removed from the system, and unnecessary casing pipes were eliminated.
V&A also coordinated with the Public Works and Water Resources Departments to ensure road and utility elements compatibility.
Additionally, V&A provided professional survey services to obtain record information for County utilities using in-house land survey-grade equipment for inclusion in the record documents over the multi-year construction contract. To reduce onsite sewage spills and provide up-to-date information for County utility and construction crews, a Google Earth-based map of existing, new, and removed utilities was developed. The map was updated with each line clearance and as-built submittal to maintain a current view of the active and inactive utilities on the site. The tool was distributed for use by the contractor, team members, and county personnel.
