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: Joint cooperative committee
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.
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.
Region Meeting Wrap-Up
ICI hosted its fall region joint cooperative committee meetings in August. These meetings provide an excellent opportunity for industry and INDOT to come to the table and discuss issues that affect the way we build Hoosier roads. In this round of meetings, Jon Yadon (Reith-Riley Construction Co., Inc.) and Corey Baugh (Milestone Contractors, L.P.) accepted vice chair positions for the Northern and Southern Region Joint Cooperative Committees, respectively.
Work zone safety continues to be a key discussion topic, as well as excessive motorist speed in work zones. We also covered subcontractor approval, material testing expected turn-around durations, abandoned utilities and the undistributed patching pay item. Tom Dame (Hercules Machinery Corp.) presented “Pile Driving 101,” covering the basics of safety, equipment and operations information specific to pile driving. Committee members heard about recently adopted specification revisions (effective on contracts let after September 1) pertaining to sidewalk and ramp design and construction changes and storm water management. We asked committee members to comment on a Northern Region proposed revision to the Standard Specification section 101.02, Above-normal inclement weather days.
We’ll post meeting minutes when they’re available.
Spring Joint Cooperative Wrap-up – Region Meetings
During its spring ICI/INDOT Regional Joint Cooperative Committee meetings, Modified Concrete Suppliers, LLC representatives Dennis Kuchler and Brent Vautaw along with Hydro-Technology’s Scott Sweeney explained details involved in applying modified latex concrete bridge overlays. Developed over the past 30 years, the method has been used in place of hand removal of concrete.
It involves three basic steps:
- Milling;
- Selective removal of bad concrete/clean-up; and
- Latex modified concrete overlay.
The method is faster and less damaging to a structure than using jackhammers, and it helps reduce maintenance costs. The service life of the new overlay averages 25 years for bridge decks.
Due to heavier than normal rainfall during the 2015 construction season, contractors have frequently invoked Above-Normal Inclement Weather Days (§101.02). The committees’ discussion focused on issues such as:
- When to consider additional time;
- Adding time in months with decreased expected productivity;
- Eliminating work day contracts;
- “Banking” non-inclement weather days;
- and acceleration.
All three region committee agreed that improvements to the specification should decrease confusion and better set expectations for contractors during bid time and construction.
Industry is experiencing difficulty bidding on temporary signs due to the current circumstances that cause signs to remain in service significantly past the contract completion date. A suggested modification of the INDOT form IC 686, “Release From Signing Responsibility,” could reduce risk and provide INDOT with more accurate unit pricing for temporary sign items.