Avoiding Failures in
Communication Results in a Successful Project for All
by Matthew I. Hickson, P.E., Structures Project
Manager
Traffic Planning and Design, Inc.
The ramifications of a bridge or retaining wall failure
are fairly clear and well understood even by those outside of
our industry. While these structural failures can result in
enormous financial losses for a contractor, designer or local
and state agencies, even more important are the safety risks
they may pose to the traveling public. These risks are well
known by design engineers, and for this reason several factors
of safety are incorporated into structural designs, in order
to minimize the chance of a structural failure. However, the
chances of a structural failure are much less than the chances
of a failure in communication and coordination during the design
and/or construction phases of a project. Communication and coordination
are essential for a project's success, and a failure in this
aspect of project management can have effects just as devastating
to the project as a flawed design.
The need for efficient communication and coordination becomes
even more critical on a project in which private developers;
environmental and historic agencies and local and state government
authorities are all involved with the funding and approval processes.
Traffic Planning and Design, Inc. (TPD) recently completed a
project of this nature in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The
intersection improvement of Ship Road (S.R. 1001) and Swedesford
Road (T-413) included intersection design, roadway realignment,
signal design, and structural design of a replacement reinforced
box culvert. As a structural engineer with experience on major
bridge projects, including a long span truss bridge structure
and several complicated curved and splayed superstructure designs
with 3D analyses, this project didn't present a significant
engineering challenge with respect to the structural and hydraulic
design associated with the reinforced box culvert. The most
significant challenge arose from the necessity to provide efficient
communication and coordination between the developers, the local
and state government authorities and the engineering team.
The existing intersection, located in rapidly developing West
Whiteland Township, consisted of two offset legs of a state
roadway, Ship Road intersecting with a local roadway, Swedesford
Road, with a combined average daily traffic of 8,725 vehicles
per day. With the ever increasing traffic volumes in West Whiteland
Township, these offset approach legs resulted in significant
backups and delays along Ship Road during the morning and evening
rush hours. In association with a nearby housing development
being constructed, a national developer was required by the
Township to provide improvement for the existing substandard
intersection. As part of the intersection improvement and due
to hydraulic criteria and requirements, it was necessary to
replace a shorter existing 3'x6' reinforced concrete box culvert
with a 200' long, 6'x14' precast reinforced box culvert. Although
the developer provided a majority of funding for the project,
all designs required state approval and, therefore, were required
to follow PennDOT criteria for design and plans. This is where
the most significant communication and coordination efforts
were needed. Since the developers were not accustomed to being
involved with PennDOT approved structures projects, even the
most typical design methods and details required extensive correspondence
and justification. This coordination was required between the
engineer, the developer and PennDOT in order to provide justification
to the developer concerning the specific PennDOT requirements
for certain design aspects and structural details.
This project was further complicated by the aggressive design
and construction timetable required by the Township. Another
bridge construction project was scheduled within the Township's
commercial district prior to the start of the Christmas shopping
season that required a bridge and roadway closure on a major
parallel route through the Township. Having both of these North-South
roadways closed at the same time would have produced gridlock
within the surrounding communities. In order to minimize these
potential delays, the Township required that the Ship Road/Swedesford
Road intersection improvements be completed prior to the other
previously scheduled bridge construction. In order to meet this
aggressive schedule, significant coordination was required between
the engineer, PennDOT, the Township, the developer, environmental
and historical permitting agencies, the precast concrete fabricators
and the construction contractor. This coordination was first
required in the plan approval and permitting process. In order
to allow adequate time for construction and minimize associated
delays, the contract plans and shop drawings were combined and
approved together. While this required significant communication
between the designer, the fabricator and PennDOT, it minimized
delays during construction by allowing the fabricator to begin
the lengthy process of fabricating the precast box sections.
By having these box sections fabricated early, it eliminated
delays during construction and allowed the sections to be delivered
and installed within the tight construction schedule. There
was also significant coordination necessary with the historical
and environmental permitting agencies. With wetlands located
adjacent to the project along the creek and historical dwellings
and properties adjacent to the project, receiving environmental
and historical permitting was a critical step in achieving the
schedule. Typically these permitting procedures take numerous
months for these agencies to review the applications and issue
the permits. However, due to the tight timetable, TPD and the
Township engaged in intense coordination and communication with
these agencies in order to get the required permits in a timely
manner, such that the project construction was not significantly
delayed.
The overall project was completed within the aggressive month
schedule for design and construction, and traffic delays within
the Township were minimized significantly. This project was
beneficial to all parties. With a majority of funding provided
by the developer, an intersection that was in need of major
upgrades was improved without the use of any public or state
funding. The community received infrastructure improvements
resulting in increased safety and mobility, without the expected
traffic delays during construction, had both roadways been closed
simultaneously. Although this may not have been a monumental
structure and roadway design project, it was a project that
required intensive attention to communication, coordination,
scheduling and management. Focusing on these aspects resulted
in overall project success, as PennDOT, the Township, and the
motoring public received the much needed intersection improvements/stream
crossing to adequately accommodate the healthy growth of their
municipality.
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