Fostering Innovation Interstate Route H-1 Viaduct Improvements

Why ACTT, Executive Summary, and Workshop Details

Why ACTT?

• ACTT provides a fresh outlook by bringing national experts to your planning table.
• ACTT introduces innovations that have been tested elsewhere.
• ACTT saves time: according to FHWA's ACTT II report, published in March 2005, "most agencies have found ways to slice construction time by 30 percent or more."
• ACTT saves money: ACTT suggestions enabled New Jersey to reduce its budget for the Route 46 bridge project from $10 million to $7.2 million.
• ACTT works for you and your customer!

How Do I ACTT?

• Select a corridor: ACTT is most helpful when applied during the project development phase.
• Make a workshop proposal to ACTT team members, and submit a copy of your proposal to theFHWA Division Office. Include details on the project corridor, timeline and goals.
• Hold a pre-workshop meeting with the ACTT management team.
• Select a meeting site, and coordinate workshop details with theFHWA Division Office.
• Host the workshop.
• Draft a report for submittal toFHWA.
• Incorporate ACTT into project operations.

Executive Summary

"This is what this is all about - doing what you have inside of you to make a difference."

Jim Sorenson, Construction and System
Preservation Team Leader, FHWA

Those familiar with the Accelerated Construction Technology Transfer, or ACTT, process will tell you that comments such as the one made by Jim Sorenson during his closing remarks at the Hawaii ACTT workshop on April 20, 2006, are an accurate reflection of how Accelerated Construction Technology Transfer impacts the project planning process.

That's because ACTT brings together a host of national experts who are committed to fostering innovation, saving time and money, and minimizing inconvenience for the department of transportation's (DOT's) ultimate customer, the traveling public.

The traveling public was very much on the Hawaii Department of Transportation's (HDOT's) mind when it approached the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) about hosting an ACTT workshop for the Interstate Route H-1, Pearl City, Waimalu and Airport Viaduct Deck Improvements project: steadily increasing traffic volumes and deteriorating deck conditions were prevalent throughout the corridor, and funding constraints meant that the public could face up to five years of construction. HDOT found this timeframe - and the potential public impact - unacceptable.

Together, FHWA and HDOT established the following skill sets for the Interstate Route H-1, Pearl City, Waimalu and Airport Viaduct Deck Improvements project:

• Construction.
• Innovative Contracting.
• Traffic Engineering/Safety/ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems).
• Public Relations.
• Structures/Geotechnical/Materials.
• Environmental.

Each skill set team focused on how the ACTT process applied to their area of expertise, while the group as a whole searched for methods and measures to help HDOT achieve its goals of reducing project costs and accelerating the construction timeframe by at least 50 percent.

As the workshop progressed, each team summarized their thoughts and narrowed them down to a list of priority recommendations. On the final day, each skill set presented their suggestions to the conference attendees. Now that the workshop is complete, HDOT will sift through the various recommendations and decide which ideas should be implemented as part of the Interstate Route H-1, Pearl City, Waimalu and Airport Viaduct Deck Improvements project.

1. Workshop Details

1.1. Opening Session

HDOT hosted the ACTT workshop April 18-20, 2006, at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The workshop began with a tour of the project corridor on Tuesday morning. Following registration, the attendees gathered for the opening session. HDOT Director Rodney Haraga and Hawaii FHWA Assistant Division Administrator Vince Mammano provided opening remarks, after which the participants introduced themselves. HDOT State Bridge Engineer Paul Santo provided a project overview, and Caltrans Deputy Director Randy Iwasaki discussed "Why ACTT, Why Now." FHWA Construction and System Preservation Team Leader Jim Sorenson served as session moderator.

1.2. Workshop Process

FHWA Baltimore Resource Center Contract Engineer and Work Session Moderator Jerry Blanding began the second day with an overview of the day's agenda, after which North Carolina DOT Administrator Len Sanderson discussed the brainstorming process. The skill set teams then broke apart to discuss the project and brainstorm preliminary ideas. Before lunch, the group reconvened to share their initial thoughts. After lunch, the skill sets continued their work, intermingling with other teams to ask questions and share ideas. They spent the remainder of the afternoon preparing final recommendations for presentation to the group on Thursday morning.

1.3. Skill Set Goals

The overall goal for the ACTT workshop was to explore innovations for constructing the deck improvements to the viaducts in a timely manner while minimizing impacts to the traveling public and the environment.

In addition, participants in each skill set had an established group of goals that was unique to their subject area.

Construction

• Address construction sequencing.
• Identify contractor staging and material storage areas.
• Maintain safety of construction workers and the traveling public.
• Recommend innovative construction methods that will minimize cost and the construction timeframe.
• Partner to reduce cost and duration.
• Maintain traffic flow at target miles per hour (MPH).
• Provide access throughout the construction zone.
• Provide reasonable project length for the contractor to complete work in a compressed timeframe.
• Reduce the estimated total construction time down to one to two years from the initial five-year estimate.
• Reduce the estimated construction cost by 50 percent.

Innovative Contracting

• Evaluate multiple contracts versus one large contract.
• Consider A-plus-B and A-plus-B-plus-C bidding opportunities.
• Discuss alternate funding mechanisms.
• Minimize cost and duration.
• Consider advance construction contracts.
• Explore innovative construction methods that could minimize both the cost and the project timeframe.
• Evaluate design-build (D-B) options.

Traffic Engineering/Safety/ITS

• Consider parallel/alternative detour routes and low-cost improvements to facilitate traffic movement.
• Maintain the existing number of lanes on H-1 to the maximum extent practical.
• Reduce congestion during peak hours, and consider methods to mitigate congestion.
• Minimize impacts to traffic.
• Establish traffic patterns that are clear and well-signed.
• Ensure contractor and motorist safety.
• Enhance travel and accessibility to the surrounding areas, major employment areas, medical facilities and local activity centers.
• Implement an incident management system and a freeway service patrol contract.
• Maintain traffic at all interchanges and cross streets to the extent practical.
• Consider truck traffic options.
• Consider other area projects and traffic detours.
• Evaluate the potential trade-offs for not meeting current design standards.

Public Relations

• Gain acceptance of the community for accelerated construction.
• Develop a plan of engagement for the community to communicate how acceleration will work and how it will benefit the public.
• Minimize community impacts.
• Collaborate on emergency response and incident management with the community.
• Publicize the project well in advance to allow the public to change/adapt their travel patterns.
• Collaborate with the media on traffic mitigation.
• Develop a strategic marketing plan to ease congestion during construction.
• Minimize secondary road usage.

Structures/Geotechnical/Materials

• Extend the service life of the bridge decks to 50 years.
• Design to minimize future maintenance of the bridge decks.
• Recommend bridge types and construction methods that will minimize the timeframe for replacement of the existing bridge decks, where applicable.
• Use prefabricated components to the maximum extent practical.
• Use high-performance materials such as very high early-strength concrete where practical.
• Integrate connections to existing roadways.
• Consider alternatives that provide for rapid construction while minimizing costs.

Environmental

• Identify and minimize project impacts.
• Acquire advance environmental clearance permits with affected agencies, i.e., the Department of Health, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, etc.
• Minimize environmental construction impacts such as dust and debris.
• Consider innovative methods for noise reduction.
• Utilize aesthetics to minimize visual impacts.
• Evaluate methods to minimize the economic impacts on local businesses.
• Consider innovative alternatives to costly storm water treatment facilities.
• Integrate urban design elements that reflect the character of the surroundings.
• Develop concepts that respect the integrity and character of the people and places in the affected (surrounding) areas.
• Respect and restore the way of life in neighborhoods along the corridor.
• Maintain a safe and efficient road that is sensitive to the context of the H-1 corridor.