Title
Pavement and Asset Management Consultant - Contract
History
Annually, the Village of Orland Park prepares a plan for the repaving and maintenance of streets within the Village. As asphalt pavement ages, it becomes hard and brittle losing the flexibility needed to carry loaded vehicles. When the flexibility is degraded, cracking occurs and soon potholes develop as water enters the pavement via the cracks penetrating the base and sub-base, further degrading the designed load-carrying capacity of the pavement, ultimately resulting in a perpetual pothole.
Design life for municipal pavements is typically 20-25 years. Pavement life can be extended through subsequent treatments such as crack filling, rejuvenative treatments, micro-surfacing and other techniques, all of which assist in keeping the pavement surface as tight as possible to preventing water infiltration.
With the rapid growth that Orland Park experienced in the late 70’s and 80’s, there are more streets that have reached the end of their service life than the annual street paving program can repave. Once the pavement system reaches a certain level of deterioration, the current “mill and overlay” process is not recommended. Once the base and sub-base have been compromised (mixed with mud), the only solution to restore design load-carrying capacity and provide durability is reconstruction, which is very expensive and disturbing within a residential community.
As technology has advanced, engineers have found means to perform a non-invasive analysis of pavements using cameras, laser imagery, and deflection sensors mounted on research vans and trucks. From the images and data gathered as these vehicles drive streets and roads, the condition of the pavement is evaluated and cataloged using GPS technology. Ultimately, the images and data get loaded into a GIS database for further use and reference. The data generated for every pavement section is used to develop a model for pavement performance based upon known construction, use and age. The models are run to determine the remaining service life in each section to develop a Pavement Condition rating, which is then integrated with established IDOT indices to develop a Pavement Condition Index (PCI). At the end of a very complex process, the Village is provided with a report of the overall condition of every street within the Village. A report is prepared and provided to the Village that is used to develop an overall target PCI for the Village. Individual pavements are then compared to the target overall PCI, and the maintenance model begins to take shape. Using the data, the remaining service life can then be modeled, and a series of maintenance strategies can be developed for presentation to the Village in an effort to reach the target overall PCI. By knowing the condition of each Village street and the repair strategy chosen to repair or add service life to pavement sections to improve the overall PCI in an effort to reach the Target, we will know how many miles of streets have reached the end of their service life, how long service life could be extended through periodic maintenance (crack sealing, etc), and when there may be a need for an infusion of capital to avoid very costly reconstruction.
On August 1, 2011, a Request for Qualifications was advertised seeking a Professional Engineering firm to provide technical services desired by Public Works for the evaluation and reporting of pavements described above as well as a GPS-based parkway tree inventory layered into the Village’s GIS system. The equipment, analytical technology, and technical education and experience required to properly perform work associated with pavement analysis is highly specialized, with a very limited number of qualified firms nationally providing these services. In the Chicago market, there are two such firms. Both firms were notified by the Village of this opportunity. By August 16, 2011, at the close of the Response Period, a single proposal was received at the Clerk’s Office from Applied Research Associates, Inc. of Champaign, Illinois (ARA).
Following review of the ARA response, staff invited ARA to Orland Park for an interview regarding their submittal. On August 30, 2011, Dr. William Vavrik from ARA met with staff from Public Works, Administration, IT and Finance to discuss the scope of their proposed work and costs associated with the pavement analysis and tree inventory outlined in the Village’s RFQ. During discussions, all present agreed that there is added benefit to including other Village assets in the work ARA will be undertaking as the video imagery being captured by ARA includes the surrounding streetscape. As such, pavement markings, roadway signs, ADA crosswalks, sidewalks and street lights are able to be cataloged and formatted for layering into the Village’s GIS database. Staff saw great value in including this added video data collection and database cataloging to the scope proposed by ARA for their initial work. ARA confirmed that all of these elements are able to be captured electronically by the research vehicle as it travels Village streets to capture the pavement and tree inventory imagery originally requested.
Staff requested a scope and fee proposal from ARA following the August 30, 2011, meeting to provide what had been initially requested, in addition to completing an expanded project in 2012. Attached to our January 16, 2012, Committee Action was ARA’s 2011 proposal outlining the initial 2011 work that was planned to be undertaken to gather data and to begin to build the database, and the additional asset work that would be completed in 2012. If data were able to be captured in late 2011, it was staff’s desire that an initial pavement analysis would be able to be completed in the first quarter of 2012 for use in finalizing the 2012 Road Improvement Program. The work to develop a pavement management strategy to achieve a prescribed overall Pavement Condition Index level of performance, as well as the completion of the balance of the expanded Asset Management database had always been planned for 2012 as outlined in the 2011/2012 proposal.
As Fall 2011 was rapidly approaching, it was very clear that there were insufficient days of equipment availability, shortened daylight hours and typically limited days of good weather remaining to perform any work in 2011. Staff decided there was no need in bringing this item forward for consideration until 2012. Subsequently, staff requested and ARA supplied a new contract dated September 14, 2011, combining the split 2011/2012 services into one 2012 Agreement. Following further discussion with ARA, it is staff’s recommendation that the services outlined in the September 14, 2011, ARA proposal be accepted and that their work commence as early as possible in 2012 thereby permitting limited use of their analysis to finalize the 2012 Road Improvement Program. The data collection and management strategy proposed will capture the noted current Village assets and allow them to be added to the Village’s existing GIS database. The addition of these added asset layers is of great benefit to the Village for asset management alone, but given the current Emerald Ash Borer infestation and the pending Federal requirements that the Village establish a full roadway sign inventory, having these assets GIS-cataloged is a tremendous added benefit at minimal added expense. Having the aforementioned assets electronically located allows a structured maintenance plan to be developed for each asset and places the Village in immediate compliance with the Phase I Federal retro-reflectivity sign regulations (currently suspended). Once assets are captured, the Village and ARA will establish a maintenance and update protocol for the database ensuring that improvements to the assets are captured as projects are completed, thereby providing sustainability for these Village assets and the database.
On January 16, 2012, this item was reviewed and approved by the Public Works and Engineering Committee and referred to the Board for approval.
INFORMATION PREVIOUSLY PROVIDED AS PART OF THE JANUARY 16, 2012, PUBLIC WORKS AND ENGINEERING COMMITTEE PACKET.
Financial Impact
In December 2010, $80,000 was approved in the 2011 Capital Budget prior to the release of the 2011 SOQ/RFP for the initial portion this work. As the contract was delayed to 2012, this funding was rolled for use in 2012. The fiscal year 2012 budget includes $190,000 in 054-0000-499.32-80. Per the September 2011 ARA proposal, the entire 2012 effort is projected to total $304,000 or $34,000 above the combined 2011 and 2012 funding approved for this work.
In anticipation of 2012 IDOT LaGrange Road Corridor reconstruction, the approved 2012 Capital Budget (054-0000-499.84-80) includes $800,000 to fund hiring a Corridor Coordination and Oversight Consultant and $2,400,000 of an estimated total cost of $11.0M for Village costs associated with Village enhancements for the Corridor. Following a January 10, 2012, meeting with IDOT Executive Management, the Corridor project will not require the distribution of these funds in 2012. Therefore, the additional $34,000 to fully fund the proposed 2012 ARA work is available within the unobligated Capital Budget. Finance will transfer $34,000 to the correct budget line item; since the overall budget is not increasing, a budget adjustment is not required. ARA has presented a multi-year program to create the Asset Management database, and update the pavement performance/degradation model that will be developed for the Village’s system. This model will provide objective metrics annually to determine the need, timing and type of maintenance or rehabilitation required for every Village street. Additional funds to support the project will be requested for additional years. Ultimately, the performance model will be refined to allow the Village to model several maintenance strategies using price, sufficiency or materials as the controlling factor upon which to base pavement maintenance.
Recommended Action/Motion
I move to approve awarding a contract and that the Village Manager be authorized to finalize a contract with Applied Research Associates of Champaign, Illinois, in the amount of $304,000 to provide Professional Engineering Pavement Analysis, and other services as outlined in their September 14, 2011, proposal.