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Quarter 1, 2017
7
K A N S A S D E S I G N - B U I L D
Gateway Interchange Constructors (GIC), a joint
venture team of Clarkson Construction and
Kiewit Construction, worked with design teams
HDR and GBA to complete the project.
One of the most significant challenges for the
contractor was the requirement to keep a mini-
mum of three lanes open at all times and limit
closures of ramps and side streets, says Bryan
Wilkerson, senior project manager at Clarkson
Construction. “There was a lot of phase work in
the project. For each phase, we had to make sure
that we had enough room to work while paving,
and we had to make sure we paved far enough
to be able to switch traffic back onto the road to
allow construction in other lanes.”
Paving strip maps—diagrams that broke
down each phase of the project by laying out
all paving work with lane widths and joint
placements—were created. “The maps made it
clear what lane line and what joint the crew had
to reach for each phase, and they included the
type of pavement thickness, reinforced or non-
reinforced,” Wilkerson explains. This approach
kept everyone on track so that each day the crews
knew how far they needed to remove pavement,
how wide the grade needed to be, where base
rock was placed, where joints were located and
how far the barriers needed to go. “The paving
strip maps were the only way to make sure that
the different crews—grading, piping, base and
concrete—stayed on target.”
Lessons learned
Because this was a large, complicated project as
well as the first major design-build by KDOT,
there were opportunities to make notes to im-
prove the next design-build project.
One way to improve would be to award the proj-
ect at a time of year that gives the construction
team time to prepare, suggests Brand. With the
contract awarded in January, the contractors
had just a couple of months to prepare for a very
fast-paced construction schedule.
“If we awarded the contract in the fall, the contrac-
tor could take advantage of winter downtime to
plan and handle pre-construction activities as
the design was developed,” says Gripka.
Effective communication—on the jobsite as well
as with the general public—was a key to the
project’s success.
Because construction of a design-build project
begins when the design is 30 to 40 percent com-
plete, it is critical tomake sure all field personnel
have access to the most up-to-date plans.
“We used all electronic plans that were updated
and uploaded in real time,” says Wilkerson. All
supervisors used an iPad to access the PlanGrid,
amobile-based construction app that gives access
to all current documents. All crews—operated
by GIC or subcontractors—were required to use
the system, with GIC providing iPads to some
of the subcontractors.
“If field design changes are made or new plans
added, supervisors are notified that some pages
have been changed when they logon to the app,”
explainsWilkerson. A simple update that takes 30
seconds ensures the supervisor is working from
the current plan. The platform included plans,
shop drawings, material certifications and the
paving strip maps, he adds. “There were more
than 5,000 plan pages on this project, so the
electronic approach was the only way to guar-
antee that everyone had the same information.”
KDOT’s communications team also kept the
public up to date on closures, progress and ac-
tivities associated with the project. Ongoing
updates were shared through the website, Twitter,
Facebook, text messages, and electronic newslet-
ters. “It was important that we kept everyone up-
dated—especially emergency personnel—when
we closed roads for construction or to remove
bridges,” says Gripka. “Overall, we received very
few complaints for a project this size because
people had access to the information.”
The success of this project does prove that design-
build is a good option for highway construction,
says Gripka. “This was a very large project, but I
also believe design-build is an effective approach
for some medium to large projects as well.”