“An Open Letter to Public Works Agencies & Pavement Managers”

I would like to make a HUGE announcement! The Barnhardt Group, LLC has become one of the “handful” of Pavement Management Professionals to become P-TAP Pre-Qualified by the MTC (Metropolitan Transportation Commission) in the USA.
This is a great accomplishment by myself and Jason Spencer, APM (Operations Manager at the Barnhardt Group).

What is P-TAP? – PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

Established in 1999, P-TAP provides consultant services to help local jurisdictions better manage and maintain their streets and roads using a PMS. P-TAP’s initial objective was to assist small to medium-sized jurisdictions since many of those jurisdictions were not able to implement and maintain a PMS because of limited financial resources, staff inexperience due to turnover, and a lack of staff time necessary to start up the program. The early P-TAP funding rounds effectively addressed those needs and, for subsequent funding rounds, eligibility was expanded to include larger cities and counties to assist these jurisdictions with specific components of their PMS.

Passing Criteria?

To pass the pre-qualification test, consultants must meet the following two criteria on distress data:

At least 50 percent of the PCI values for the inspected sections must be within +/- 5 PCI points of the reference, or “ground truth,” PCI values.
No more than 12 percent of the PCI values for the inspected sections can be greater than +/- 15 PCI points of the reference, or “ground truth,” PCI values.

Pretty rigorous, huh? Well we did it and it is time to create or update YOUR Pavement Management Plan with StreetSaver!

For the 1st person that calls us at 404-953-0131 or emails us at lori@thebarnhardtgroup.com, we will discount our services by 30% for a full “brand new” implementation. For an update of your network of roads, we are offering a 50% discount to the first person to call. Contract must be executed by 10/15/2016. If you are in Arizona, this is easy as we have a Co-Op clause in effect with Kingman, AZ which allows your agency to “bolt-on” to that contract and not jump through the hoops of a formal RFP process.

We need to fill a gap in November and this is what we are offering:

SCOPE OF WORK

This will better identify the services to the Agency:

PRELIMINARY SCOPE OF WORK UPDATE OR IMPLEMENTATION OF PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

The Scope of Work may include, but will not be limited to the following items listed below. The consultant should revise and/or expand on this scope in accordance with their expertise.

Task I Data Gathering

1. Kick Off Meeting

The consultant will meet with the City/County to finalize the schedule and initiate the project. The City/County will provide a copy of the current database. StreetSaver or MicroPAVER will be set-up w/2 seats for City/County officials. During the meeting the Consultant will spend several hours going over their Standard Operating Procedures for data collection and their overall pavement management strategy. At this time the Consultant will verify which steps to take if they find that the original data collected is erroneous in any way. A good amount of time will also be spent during this meeting to correlate and cross check items such as overall areas, square yardages etc. i.e. for residential neighbor hoods, does the pavement in the decal and acceleration lanes ‘belong’ to the main road or the neighborhood? Other items for discussion maybe how and how often will TBG Top 10 List be transmitted to the Agency staff. At this time we also like to get a one-page letter on Agency letterhead that explains what our TBG crews are doing in the field. This way if anyone asks what we are doing, we can quickly and efficiently hand the person asking a copy of your Agency letter so we are delivering a consistent message to the residents.

2. As-built Research

The consultant shall research and obtain as-builts for all street repair and maintenance projects that the City/County has performed since the last update to the City/County’s database. The Consultant will spend a good amount of time investigating with the City/County staff to obtain this information. Where this is information is not available the TBG staff can obtain it by back calculation in the field based on their pavement management expertise. While the original construction date is always important, nothing is more

important than an accurate depiction of the last M & R (Major Rehabilitation) date. The TBG crews routinely capture this information on foot during their surveys by back calculation from the date printed on the fire hydrants and determining if the road has been sequentially overlaid or inlaid since it’s original back calculated construction date.

Task II Field Inspection

1. Field Review

The consultant shall field review the various streets and street segments in the database and prepare a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) for each segment. Streets that have been recently repaired should be inspected but may not require PCI calculations. The consultant should detail their proposed method for PCI calculations. The number or percentage of street segments that are to be inspected shall be clearly identified in the proposal.

The Consultant (TBG) plans to perform ASTM 6433 pavement distress survey on the entire network of approximately 1740 center lane miles of roadway for the City/County. If the actual center lane miles are slightly more no additional charges will be incurred. If the center lane miles are considerably more than what has been reported in the answers to the questions on the City/County website, then a pro rated amount of time can be applied to compensate the Consultant. In order for TBG to provide the most value in this response and contract, it is imperative that each and every street be surveyed for pavement distress, lengths, widths and areas will be verified for accuracy, and PCI Ratings will be calculated for each segment. The City/County and TBG may decide to group multiple sections together into larger sections for the ease of managing their pavement at this time. However, this would be decided only through collaboration and agreement by both parties that this is mutually beneficial to both.

The Consultant shall obtain accurate distances using a Distance Measuring Device (DMI) such as the Jamar RAC 100 or similar that is calibrated and hooked into the drive mechanism of the vehicle hosting the apparatus. Widths shall be accurately calibrated as well. On roads with multiple and various widths and odd sizes (i.e. roundabouts) the Consultant shall perform an accurate digital take off using a software such as http://www.goipave.com to obtain the overall square yardages required for the field survey.

At this time the Consultant shall also employ network level coring where the pavement section thickness is not apparent from visual inspection. This core drill to be used will be a Hilti DD 130 or equivalent. Where the depth of pavement is visible or the Consultant is certain of its make up and structure without coring, that shall be sufficient in lieu of physical coring. Note that the network level coring is not part of ASTM 6433 and is used to accurately align the proper rehabilitation techniques at the project level. The network level coring is not meant to be a replacement for

project level coring. The coring may be waived by the Agency if not required by them. No deduction in payment will be required by the Consultant should the Agency decide to forgo network level coring.

The Consultant shall survey and collect all of the 20 distresses from the MicroPAVER Distress Identification Manual for Asphalt Roads and Parking Lots and all 19 of the distresses for the MicroPAVER Distress Identification Manual for Concrete Roads and Parking Lots.

Should the quantities of center lane miles vary by more than 3% of the original estimate of center lane miles given by the Agency at the time of the contract, the Agency and Consultant will mutually agree on a prorated amount of money for the additional work required if this project is awarded based on a unit price per center lane mile.

2. Field Data Report

The consultant shall prepare a report of the field inspection data. The Consultant will also provide a live meeting to explain their findings from the Field Review above. During this meeting the City/County will be apprised of how accurate their original data is in terms of quantities of pavement area etc.

Task III Update Data Base

1. Data Entry

The consultant shall enter the results of the field inspection into the MicroPAVER or StreetSaver Database. The consultant shall compare the new data with the existing data to determine if any street segments appear to be subject to accelerated deterioration.

The Consultant will also determine if there was any erroneous data entry from the previous surveys at this time based on the correlation between the most recent Field Review and their pavement management expertise.

2. Analysis

The consultant shall prepare the StreetSaver or MicroPAVER analysis and provide a report indicating the Pavement Condition Index for the individual segments. The consultant shall compare the StreetSaver or MicroPAVER output with the Field Data Report to insure that the resulting PCIs accurately reflect the existing pavement condition.

The Consultant will also update unit prices and desired treatments that the City/County is or wishes to use in the future in order that accurate budget forecasting can be delivered. The Consultant will also advise and make recommendations on all treatments that are currently available in the the region and provide guidance on to what benefits and what drawbacks are associated with each and every preservation, and rehabilitation treatments are available.

Task IV Prioritization

1. Priority Projects

The consultant shall review the citywide data and make recommendations for repair projects on streets where unusual or accelerated pavement damage has occurred or for other pavement conditions that may adversely effect public safety. The Consultant will also explain the benefits of not treating all of the worst first roads with their limited budget. This can be accomplished by live classroom training (some of which is included in this response pro bono) and online pavement management training through IPMA Academy (2 scholarships are available as part of this proposed scope of work).

2. Five-Year Management and Financial Plan

The consultant shall develop a Five-Year Pavement Management Plan. The plan shall seek to maximize the life and condition of City/County streets given a limited pavement maintenance budget. The management plan shall include estimated costs for the work in each year. The Five-Year Management and Financial Plan shall have two different scenarios to reflect possible funding levels.

The Consultant may also elect to perform an unconstrained budget to determine the overall amount that is actually required to get the network to optimum over a fixed period of time. The Consultant fees for this project would remain the same regardless of the software chosen by the City/County.

3. Alternative Scenarios

In addition to the Five-Year Management and Financial Plan, the consultant shall also prepare two additional scenarios. Although not defined at this time, one possible scenario could to increase the PCI to a certain level. In order to prepare the proposal, assume that the effort level for the two alternative scenarios would be similar to preparing an alternate funding level for the Five-Year Management and Financial Plan.

The Consultant will work in collaboration with the City/County to find the best-case alternate scenarios. Often target based scenarios work well to highlight deficiencies in budgets, and the associated ‘what if’ scenarios that take place hypothetically when funding levels change. With Target driven scenarios the politicians can quickly see how much extra funding will be required to get to a desired level of service with their roadway network based on a specific PCI rating.

Task V Final Report

1. Final Report

The consultant shall prepare a final report containing: a description of the methodology used in the analysis, the priority project listing, the two Five Year Management and Financial Plans, the PCI output listing and the two alternative scenarios.

The Consultant will also provide a non-technical video (10-15 minutes) that gives the City/County a good understanding of their current condition of roadway network and the funding required for maintaining it or improving it. The Consultant will also supply a dry erase calendar style roll up whiteboard with a complete listing of all the roadways and their current PCI index.

I have numerous sample final reports and testimonials that I can send upon request.

Do not pass this up!

It is imperative that the rating inspectors get this right from day one. Further, we noticed that there are many, many, many small sections. Typically this is one of the biggest complaints that we receive in feedback sessions from our conversion clients as they discuss their dismay in the original set up by others.

Boy does a City on MO and a Village in Illinois know that…but that is in the next open letter…stay tuned…this is a “doozie”. Below is a hint.

Blair

And do not forget the FREE BOOK: