Read through the 2023 Winter Region Meeting Wrapup in preparation for the ICI/INDOT Statewide Joint Cooperative Committee Meeting on Wednesday, May 31 in Indianapolis.
Tag: ICI/INDOT
ICI-Side Wrapup
ICI members met virtually on Oct. 22 for the ICI-Side ICI/INDOT Statewide Joint Cooperative Committee meeting and covered a wide range of topics.
Members reported continued collaboration with INDOT to utilize new technology and equipment to improve work zone safety in 2020, such as the trucks for advanced queue awareness vehicles and work zone intelligent traffic messaging systems. Law enforcement officer presence continues to be an industry favorite to get motorists’ attention and slower speeds.
Keith Mullens, ICI/INDOT Statewide Joint Cooperative Committee co-chair, reported that ICI is working with INDOT on a recently published contractor schedule unique special provision. He explained that INDOT’s primary goals are improving accuracy of public communication of key project dates and increasing contractor schedule submissions and quality.
INDOT has received issue resolution proposals for the following topics:
- Payment of lump sum items.
- Measurement and payment for MOT sign.
- Payment for subgrade treatment type IC as IB
- Box structure footing closure pours.
- The proposals are based on a culmination of joint committee discussions and recommendations.
The Statewide Committee leadership will be considering:
- Maintenance of traffic under live bridge demolition.
- Greater use of temporary traffic signals in lieu of flaggers.
- Urging INDOT and local public works entities to refrain from allowing utility relocation after construction contract notice-to-proceed.
The ICI/INDOT Statewide Joint Cooperative Committee leadership will meet in early November to review current agenda items and discuss new topics. The full Statewide Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 2. RSVP here.
Please contact Dan Osborn for questions, suggestions and comments concerning the ICI/INDOT Statewide and Region Joint Cooperative Committees.
LEOs Critical to Work Zone Safety
ICI/INDOT Region Joint Cooperative Committee members continue to focus on work zone safety efforts in work zones. The North, South, and Central committees continue to support the use of law enforcement officers (LEOs) to protect workers and the motoring public. Improved communication among project level staff and LEOs at preconstruction, progress and prior to daily operations is the key that the committees stressed to improve perspectives, expectations and efficiency.
To learn more about committee discussion, click on the meeting minutes.
- ICI/INDOT Northern Region Joint Cooperative Committee, January 21, 2020
- ICI/INDOT Central Region Joint Cooperative Committee, February 21, 2020
- ICI/INDOT Southern Region Joint Cooperative Committee, February 27, 2020
Please contact Dan Osborn for additional information, to discuss the content of the minutes or present new topics for future meetings.
Ft. Wayne District Staff and ICI Members Talk Pros and Cons of Contract Bundling
Representatives from INDOT Ft. Wayne District and ICI met on January 25 in Warsaw to discuss positive and negative contract bundling characteristics. ICI member contractors, working in northeast Indiana, are concerned that aggressive bundling has reduced competition and is driving up costs. Contractors, primarily working in the Ft. Wayne District, have noticed a higher volume of larger bundles including multiple work types over large geographic areas. Such bundling characteristics present several issues for contractors. Concerns include bonding and bidding capacity for smaller-to-medium contractors, DBE availability, limited opportunities for regional contractors and inflexible contract durations.
After receiving contractor comments leading up to the meeting, Ft. Wayne District Construction Director Jason Spreen and district area engineers reviewed bundled contracts scheduled in the first half of the INDOT fiscal year 2019. Spreen presented the results of their evaluation at the meeting including several contracts split into smaller bundles or stand-alone projects. The revised contract bundles include projects in tighter regional areas, along interstate and major highway corridors, and similar work types. Contractors were appreciative of INDOT’s efforts and believe that the resulting contracts will increase competition, optimize crews and help coordinate maintenance of traffic across adjacent projects.
ICI staff will continue reviewing future bundled contracts listed in the INDOT 18-month letting list and requests for proposals to identify bundles with negative characteristics. We urge members to provide comments and feedback to ICI staff and the INDOT districts construction leadership.
ICI/INDOT Statewide Meeting Wrap-Up
The ICI/INDOT Statewide Joint Cooperative Committee met on May 3. Co-Chair Todd Fredrick introduced INDOT’s Director of Materials Management and Construction John Leckie, who has stepped in to fill the vacant co-chair spot left by the recently retired Mark Miller.
ICI’s Calvin Lee summarized ICI/INDOT Work Zone Task Group’s recent efforts for early industry input on work-in-progress contracts, increased law enforcement hours and consideration for Interstate Highway Congestion Policy exceptions. The committee continued discussion of greater emphasis on partnering best practices for inclusion in pre-construction meeting agendas, and INDOT’s capacity to track change order, progress estimate and purchase order processing. Mr. Leckie is currently reviewing INDOT’s capabilities for tracking change orders and progress estimates, but is not optimistic about purchase orders.
See the minutes to review discussion of new committee topics: 1) Grade correction related pay items for resurfacing work; 2) communication between IDEM, INDOT and contractors; 3) storm water quality; and 4) Owners and Contractors Protective Liability coverage. INDOT announced plans to begin requiring electronic payroll reporting in July 2017. Open forum topics included an inquiry from industry about availability of DBE bid files (DBE.BIN) prior to lettings and the required trainee to journeyman ratio.
Please contact Dan Osborn to discuss current topics or new developing issues.