Underground Construction - February 2019 - 13

Ideally, how much money is needed to address your immediate
near-term needs?
4

321
3
BILLIONS

west said, "communication in
all aspects of the project from
design, bidding, construction
and close out," is extremely
important.
Another survey respondent
from the Midwest advised that
engineers should "understand
the parameter of the project. Offer alternate solutions and give
alternate bids that incorporate a
life cycle alternate/analysis."
This Midwest municipal
manager advised that engineers
should always "be transparent
and truthful."
Yet another comment that
was suggested in similar form
by several survey respondents,
was for engineers to "understand
the field side of the business." A
Mountain West city employee
complained that "too many consulting engineers rarely get in the
field to see technology in use, witness the challenges and problems
that crop up."
Municipal personnel were also
asked to rate contractors based
on the 1-to-5 scale in the areas of
quality work, timely project completions, price and dependability.
Unfortunately for contractors,
their composite score dropped

248

2

103

96

1

62

Sewer

32

Water

Stormwater

Sewer

2019
for the second year in a row,
down to 3.7 from 3.9.
"Timely completion of work
is a big issue for us," stressed a
Southeast municipal manager.
A respondent from the
Mid-Atlantic region added that
contractors should "devote more
time to the job instead of rushing
at the last minute to get work
completed."
Advised this municipal respondent from the Midwest, "Bid jobs

Water

Stormwater

Near Term (5 Years)
correctly, don't underbid to get
in the door, then expect extras to
make up for the real cost."
Another common complaint
about contractors was reluctance to branch out into other
construction methods that could
improve execution of a project.
"Contractors need to be willing
to work with new products, follow specifications and do quality
work," said this Northeast respondent.

How Municipal Personnel View Various Trenchless Techniques

2018

From the desert Southwest,
a municipal employee observed
that "too many contractors
are comfortable with their
backhoes and don't want to try
something else."
Added a respondent from the
Southeast, "we like for contractors to advise and work with
us on alternative construction
methods. Sometimes that's not
the answer, but it should always
be explored."

2019

5= very beneficial 4= beneficial 3= somewhat beneficial 2= low benefit 1= no benefit
4.4

4.5
4.2

4.1

3.9
3.5

2.7

2.6

2.5

2.3

3.5

3.5

3.8

3.6

3.0

CIPP
(Water,
Steam)

Directional
Drilling

Folded
Pipe

3.2

3.0
2.7

4.2

3.1
2.6

2.6

2.8

2.3

2.0

CIPP
(UV Light)

4.1

3.9

3.4
2.9

2.7

3.6

3.8

Microtunneling

Piercing
Tools

Pipe
Bursting

Sliplining

Grout

Manhole
Cementitious
Coatings

Manhole
Inserts

Chemical
Root
Control

Point
Repair

Lateral
Lining

Grout
In-Place
Liners

Manhole Epoxy
Spray-on
Coatings

UConOnline.com | FEBRUARY 2019

13
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Underground Construction - February 2019

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