A Case Study of Real-Time Construction Management - Washington Industrial Park Utilities Improvement Project

A Case Study of Real-Time Construction Management - Washington Industrial Park Utilities Improvement Project 1)Introduction: The City of Hollywood's Department of Public Utilities (DPU) owns, operates, and maintains water, stormwater and a regional wastewater system within the City's corporate limits. Like other coastal cities in South Florida, Hollywood faces flooding challenges due to its built-out land area, low topography, and high groundwater table. Additionally, approximately 46% of the City's properties still utilize septic systems for onsite sewage treatment and disposal. Furthermore, the City must continue its water main replacement program to address aging pipes in the distribution system. To address these challenges, the City completed the development of Master Plans for its Water, Wastewater and Stormwater systems in 2024. The estimated cost for the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) over the next 25 years is $2,086,000,000 for wastewater, between $1,000,000,000 and $2,000,000,000 for stormwater, and $500,000,000 for water systems. The majority of these CIP construction projects will take place in the same right-of-way area to address water, sewer and stormwater facilities at the same time. The City successfully applied for and received $5,595,000 in Broward County Surtax funds to improve the drainage system, corridor pavement and grading in Washington Industrial Park. To make the most of the upcoming drainage improvement project, DPU has decided to replace and upsize the aging water distribution system and install a new sanitary sewer system within the same project area, bounded by North 56th Avenue to the west, State Road 7 to the east, Rodman Street to the south, and Washington Street to the north. The construction contract, in an amount of $27,024,355.88, was awarded to Man-Con, Inc., with a project duration of 548 calendar days. Tetra Tech, Inc. was solicited to provide the Construction Engineering & Inspection (CEI) service for the project in an amount of $1,974,386.00. Considering the complexity of the project, which includes water, sewer, stormwater facilities, pavement restoration, traffic lane modifications, swales, sidewalk replacement, ADA ramps improvements and the challenge of maintaining business operations during construction, DPU must actively manage the construction. This involves overseeing the schedule, engaging with the public, and tracking potential change orders. Based on these needs, DPU utilized a real-time construction monitoring and management modeling system during the construction. 2)A real-time construction monitoring/management system for Washington Industrial Park Utilities Improvement Project: The Washington Industrial Utilities Improvement Project is a significant and high demanding project involving the installation of water mains, sewer mains and a stormwater system using the open-cut method in a congested urban area. Coordination of the detailed construction sequence and continuous monitoring of construction activities are critical for the project team, which includes City officials, community leaders, business owners, residents, contractors, engineers, and regulatory agencies. Recognizing the complexity of the project, DPU determined that a real-time construction monitoring and management model would facilitate the project team's ability to virtually oversee construction activities, identify potential problems early, and explore various solutions without real-world consequences. The real-time construction management system utilizes a model that simulates the entire construction progress on cloud-based aerial Map. This animated model, which combines a three-dimensional map with chronological dates (Application 1 & Figure 1 and Figure 2 ), can replicate the entire construction sequence and progress geographically. By comparing different construction scenarios in the model, the design was improved, constructability was confirmed, and the most efficient construction schedules and sequences were identified. Once the best scenario is determined, the Engineer of Record (EOR)'s knowledge and design intent can be distinctly bid and transferred to the contractor and the CEI team. The real-time construction management model is an excellent tool for tracking the construction schedule. By overlaying of the actual animated construction progress map on top of the approved construction sequence/schedule map (Application 2 & Figure 1), or comparing actual construction progress with planned schedule in maps side by side, all project stakeholders can visually recognize whether the actual construction progress is ahead of or behind schedule. This allows both the City and contractor to take timely actions as needed. Since the model accurately illustrates the layout of all engineering facilities on the single aerial map using Geolocation features, it provides the contractor, inspector, and EOR with an interactive, real-time view of their construction projects on an iPad. This functionality allows users to easily determine their location, recognize the environment based on street view, and identify all required activities at any given construction site (Application 3 & Figure 2), especially when the crew arrives at a new site. Additionally, the model offers a streamlined link between each construction component on the map and the construction plans (Application 4 & Figure 2, Figure 3). This enhancement significantly improves the efficiency of all team members throughout the project. Any approved revisions are instantly accessible to all team members. The real-time construction monitoring and management model also enables the team to handle enormous volumes of data for construction management. For example, daily reports, field notes, and change order processes are tracked on the same map with options to turn on or off their layers (Application 5 & Figure 2). Public outreach is a crucial role of this project, especially for the numerous businesses in the project area. The management system list all public notification flyers, and tracks the complaint history for each property, with active complaints highlighted in red and resolved complaints in yellow (Application 6 & Figure 2). This serves as an impressive tool for community meetings and monthly project reports. Lastly, the delivery of the final as built and GIS will be seamless for the project since all data have been verified and utilized during construction. It will prevent any misunderstandings or gaps between the construction team and the owner's engineering team, who in the past transferred the as-builts to the GIS records after the project was completed. The history of those documentations may also serve well in case of litigation among stakeholders, or when a stakeholder is sued by other party. The historical data stored in the management system will reduce the time and cost related to the record collection. 3)Conclusion: The real-time visual construction monitoring tool has been demonstrated as an innovative construction management system that helps ensure the team is aligned, improving continuous communication and teamwork. The real-time construction monitoring and management approach effectively addresses challenges encountered in this project, demonstrating to be a valuable tool for improving communication, controlling the project schedule, tracking potential change orders, and addressing complaints from residents and business owners in the neighborhood. We believe that additional application features could be developed to optimize construction activities.