Victoria Avenue Resurfacing, Drainage and Lighting

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A decision made (02/06/2008) regarding: Victoria Avenue Resurfacing, Drainage and Lighting - Phase 1, Progress Report.

Decision Reference: MD-T-2008-0045
Decision Summary Title :	Victoria Avenue resurfacing, drainage and lighting Phase 1 – Progress Report		Date of Decision Summary:	30 May 2008
Decision Summary Author:	Chris Sampson – Director of Municipal Services		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	Victoria Avenue resurfacing, drainage and lighting Phase 1 – Progress Report		Date of Written Report:	30 May 2008
Written Report Author:	Chris Sampson – Director of Municipal Services		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Victoria Avenue Resurfacing, Drainage & Lighting – Phase 1, Progress Report
Decision(s): The Minister authorised the lead professional to instruct two essential variations with individual values in excess of £30k.
Reason(s) for Decision: The initial works on the project have exposed the road structure, drainage and kerb foundations which have been found to be in a worse condition than expected which has necessitated the issuing of essential variations to complete the works. To comply with the Financial Code of Direction, The Control of Capital Expenditure – Financial Direction No. 5.6, the Sponsoring Minister is required to authorise the two essential variations in excess of £30k.
Resource Implications: Project contingencies and Capital Vote C2674 – Highways Maintenance. (Funding can be brought forward from capital resurfacing programme.)
Action required: The Minister is required to note the contents of the report and to authorise the lead professional to instruct two essential variations for road strengthening and regulating each with an individual value in excess of £30k
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Victoria Avenue Resurfacing, Drainage and Lighting - Phase 1, Progress Report.

TRANSPORT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES

VICTORIA AVENUE RESURFACING, DRAINAGE & LIGHTING - PHASE 1

PROGRESS REPORT

Purpose of the Report

The purpose of this report is to update the Minister with regard to the current technical and financial position of the Victoria Avenue Resurfacing Project and to request the Minister to authorise two essential variations.

These essential variations are required due to the nature of the extremely poor quality of the underlying road structure which has recently become apparent as part of the ongoing excavation works.

Background

TTS carry out a condition survey on the 245km of the Islands main roads on a five year cyclical basis which identifies and prioritises the roads which are in most need of repair. Following this survey a priority list is developed which is then adjusted to suit the many factors which need to be taken into account when considering the programming of major road works. The requirement and timing for the Victoria Avenue resurfacing works was developed through this process and the works were considered high priority.

In recent years all TTS resurfacing projects have been tendered on the basis of removing the top 40mm layer of asphalt from the surface of the road, repairing or strengthening the base layers below this 40mm with deeper layers of asphalt construction, then reinstating back to final levels with a new 40mm top layer. All projects have included for an element of strengthening works and 5% contingencies which has been included for unforeseen conditions or essential variations.

In all previous projects including Queens Road, Springfield Gyratory, La Grande Route de St Pierre, Route de la Haule and many other smaller projects this philosophy has proved effective with all projects’ final accounts being settled within the stated contract sum plus the contingencies.

Discussion

This contract philosophy was adopted for the Victoria Avenue project and a contract sum of £979k was received from the lowest tenderer. This figure can be broken down in to the key elements of the works as follows:

Resurfacing £635k

Drainage and ducts £97k

Street lighting £111K

Landscaping and signage £32k

Kerbs and footways £104k

£979k

Over and above this tender figure TTS pre-ordered the new streetlights due to the long lead-in period for these items, instructed the landscaping works directly to reduce costs and held a 5% contingency fund for essential variations and unforeseen works. This gave an overall project cost of £1,102k

Since works have commenced on site a significant amount of unforeseen items have become apparent and essential variations have been instructed to accommodate these changes with variations being issued to date to allow the works to progress. It is not unusual to issue variations on a contract of this size, but it is unusual for the total value of these variations to exceed the contract sum plus the contingency allowance.

As part of these instructions a variation to the value of £3k has been issued to move a kerb line to ensure that the emergency services could freely pass through the completed works in an emergency situation.

The most costly variations to date are required due to the extremely poor conditions of the underlying road construction which has been discovered as part of the recent road excavations, the requirement to replace more defective drainage then was originally envisaged and the replacement of inadequate kerb structures and foundations.

In order to approve essential variations, financial controls are required to demonstrate compliance with States of Jersey Code of Directions 5.6, The Control of Capital Expenditure.

In compliance with the Code of Direction the following roles have been assigned for the Victoria Avenue project:

The Lead Professional Kevin Armstrong – Manager of Highways & Infrastructure

The Project Sponsor Chris Sampson – Director of Municipal Services

The Sponsoring Minister Guy De Faye – Minister for Transport & Technical Services

In accordance with Code of Direction, the Lead Professional, the Project Sponsor and the Sponsoring Minister each have the authority to instruct essential variations. This authority is limited by the estimated out turn cost of the variation.

The current position with regard to variations is as follows

Essential variations with an out turn cost of: (as per Code of Direction 5.6)

Victoria Avenue Resurfacing, Drainage & Lighting – Phase 1

Less than £15,000

The Lead Professional is authorised to agree essential variations, which should be reported to the Project Sponsor as soon as possible

The Lead Professional has authorised essential variations to date with individual values less than £15,000 with a total value of £79,643.

Between £15,000 and £30,000

The Lead Professional shall notify the Project Sponsor as soon as possible and before the variation instruction is issued. The Project Sponsor is authorised to agree essential variations up to £30,000, which should then be reported to the Project Management Group.

In order for The Lead Professional to instruct the Contractor accordingly, The Project Sponsor has authorised the following essential variation.

• Relay kerbs in the central reserve where the existing foundation is insufficient, rendering the adjacent excavations unsafe. Estimated cost £25,000

Greater than £30,000

The Lead Professional / Project Sponsor shall report the matter to the Sponsoring Minister, before the variation / instruction is issued. The outcome is to be reported to the Project Management Group. The Sponsoring Minister is authorised to agree essential variations above £30,000.

In order for the following essential variations to be formally instructed to the Contractor, authorisation is required from The Sponsoring Minister;

• Additional road strengthening required due to the condition of the underlying layers of the existing road having deteriorated more than was expected from the site investigation. Estimated cost* £65,000.

• Additional regulating required to ensure that surface course provides good ride quality. Estimated cost* £64,500.

*Estimates have been calculated based on the condition of the underlying layers of the existing road in areas that have been exposed to date. Estimates are based on projecting this condition to the end of the project.

The Minister is therefore requested to authorise the two essential variations which are in excess of £30k to allow for additional strengthening and regulating works which are required as a direct consequence of the condition of the existing road structure. Subject to these variations being instructed and similar deficiencies in the existing road structure being encountered between Bel Royal and Rue de Galet, the forecast final account is detailed below. Funding to meet the predicted out turn costs is available in the Highways Resurfacing capital vote.

Forecast Out turn Costs

	Original Budget	Forecast
Contract Sum	978,406	978,406
Supply of street lights	61,254	61,254
Planting	10,000	10,000
Variations to date	0	104,643
Variations (anticipated)	0	10,000
Extra Strengthening (anticipated)	0	65,000
Extra Regulating (anticipated)	0	64,500
Contingencies (5%)	52,483	0
Total	1,102,143	1,293,803

It can be seen that the forecast out turn cost is currently £191k above the original project estimates and can be almost totally attributed to the extremely poor condition of the existing road and associated infrastructure which has been encounterd and clearly demonstrates the need for the project and why the project was considered high priority by the department.

Recommendation

The Minister is recommended to note the contents of the report and to authorise the Lead Professional to instruct the two essential variations with individual values in excess of £30k.

Reason(s) for Decision

The initial works on the project have exposed the road structure, drainage and kerb foundations which have been found to be in a worse condition then expected which has necessitated the issuing of essential variations to complete the works. To comply with the Financial Code of Direction, The Control of Capital Expenditure – Financial Direction No. 5.6, the Sponsoring Minister is required to authorise the two essential variations in excess of £30k.

Action Required

The Minister is required to note the contents of the report and to authorise the lead professional to instruct two essential variations for road strengthening and regulating each with an individual value in excess of £30k

Written by:	Chris Sampson – Director of Municipal Services

Approved by:	John Richardson – Chief Executive Officer