Construction - Public Works Group Blog

July 4, 2012

Kinect, Robotics, Highway Safety, and Saving Lives

There's been a lot of talk about the use of Kinect and robotics. Yes, people have figured out how to use Microsoft's awesome gadget to manipulate robots. And Microsoft even has a Robotics website and development toolkits for this purpose. But so far, most of the demos I have seen focus on using robots to help with housework or serve as a companion. Not that this is bad, but I wonder if anyone has been looking at the use of this technology in public works. One of the first applications I'd look at is using it to assist flaggers in highway construction work zones.

Out of the almost 33,000 motor vehicle fatalities in 2010, 576 were in a work zone. While some education of the public and workers and improvements to the layout and set up of the work zone can help reduce this number, there's not much that can be done to help deaths of flaggers. Between 2003 and 2010 a range of 6 to 19 flaggers were killed in the U.S. each year. Unfortunately by the nature of their job, flaggers are stuck having to stand in close proximity to traffic. And there's only so much they can do to protect themselves from a driver who loses control of a vehicle for any reason.

There's been some efforts to enhance visibility of the flagger or replace the human with a mechanical device. But from what I understand the mechanical device is not always a full solution. But while discussing this dilemna with another engineer, we started wondering if the Kinect/robotic solution could be implemented here. The robot could be designed to maximize visibility and it would remove the human from any danger and possibly even allow the human flagger to be placed in a better position. The human would no longer have to stand in the hot sun or freezing weather and could perhaps even be stationed somewhere that gave them a better view of the work zone and traffic. However, it would still be their judgement and training and movements behind the robot's operation.

Here's a video with a demonstration of someone using a robot to cut a banana. Sure it's a far cry from flagging in a work zone, but hopefully it conveys the possibilities. So all you programmers out there looking for an awesome use and product application for Kinect driven robotics, how about creating the robotic flagger and save some lives!? (And you can learn more about work zone safety here: The National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse)

June 3, 2012

Home Buying Tips and Cheat Sheet

Buying a home is probably one of the biggest purchases we will make in our lives. It's also something that many of us end up living with for an extensive period of time. In my lifetime, I have been involved in the purchase of five homes, but the tips I am going to share with you were not gained through my home-buying experience. Nope, I picked up these tidbits of caution and information while working at different cities trying to help others who bought a home and were dealing with problems they either did not know about or anticipate. And because of this, the tips I'm giving are specifically focused on buying homes in a city, but could possibly apply to other jurisdictions.

Check your zoning and the rules for that zoning

This is not as much fun as checking out the pool in the backyard, but it can end up playing a critical part in your future happiness. Contrary to popular belief, we might live in America, but that does not mean we are free to do whatever we want on our own property. Everything you do on your property is subject to a set of rules determined by the zoning set for your property. If you buy the parcel with grand plans for new garages or a home business or a place to park all your cars and boats, you might want to first make sure all that will be allowed on your property. The other reason to check zoning is to make sure you don't get any surprise neighbors. That vacant parcel next door might look pretty good today, but if it is zoned other than single-family residential, be prepared to someday wake up and maybe find yourself staring at or hearing (or smelling?) a doggy daycare.

Check to see if the home is part of a homeowners' association

This can have positive and negative consequences. Some properties not only have to follow zoning rules, but also subdivision rules typically referred to as covenants. If a subdivision is built-out, covenants are regulated not by the city, but by the homeowners' association. (If it is not built out, the developer typically adminsters the covenants.) So prior to purchase read the covenants to make sure you are allowed to use the property as you would like to. Another issue to research is whether or not you will pay a homeowner association fee. Each subdivision can have a wide range of assets for which properties in that development are responsible. Some only pay for a sidewalk while others might pay for swimming pools or in the case of townhomes the repair of the structures. And if your developer didn't want to follow city subdivision rules and the infrastructure in your subdivision was never accepted by the city, you will most likely also be responsible for helping to pay for the maintenance and repair of roads, sewer, water, etc. The positive side of this is that a homeowners' association can provide benefits by ensuring uses in the development remain as intended, offering added amenities not available to others in the city, or providing maintenance for common areas.

Make sure there is good drainage on and away from the property

Not thinking about drainage prior to purchase can definitely lead to problems later. Whether it's a home that sits in a bowl because the ground does not drain away from the foundation or a home in an area with high groundwater, or a home lying close to quiet, serene waterways or drainage paths that turn to raging rivers during a storm, you'll want to make sure you know what you're getting into before you buy. To get an idea of how much of a problem water can be when it rains, take some time to check out these things:

Walk around the house and note the downspouts – are they hooked up, do they extend far enough away from the home, is it easy for the end to become blocked (you can't imagine how much water drains off a roof during a rain)?
Walk around the house and note if the ground drains away from the house or towards the home – particularly towards any windows, walkouts, or window wells in the foundation.
Walk around the property – does it look like the land around the property drains away or towards this home's property? Are there drainage basins near the property lines, and if so, does it look like they could easily become covered? If good drainage of this home's lot depends on that opening staying clear, will you have control over that or would you have to depend on a neighbor to keep it open because it is on their property or behind their fence?
Look at how the height of the home's foundation, the garage door, and other openings such as window wells compare to the road – is the road above these openings? If the road is above these openings, there is a very good chance water will drain from the road towards these openings.
Look in the basement for a sump pump – if the sump pump stops for any reason such as pump failure or electric outage, will your lower level flood? Will this be a problem because of a finished lower level or a need to store items there, or because of heating or other equipment or appliances? Check to see if the pump has a battery backup. If there is one, will that be sufficient to protect the lower level? If there are pumps in other areas of the home such as depressed patios, will failure of the pump cause damage in these areas? Is there something that can be done to protect or eliminate that problem?

It is also important to look at the subdivision plat and drainage plans for the property. These plats and plans can usually be found at the public works/engineering departments of the city. The plans will typically show drainage paths. Some subdivisions are designed to create overland flood routes where water is channeled during a major storm event. If the property lies next to one of these routes, are the openings into the home above the expected flood elevations in these routes? Typically homes next to these routes have restrictions on how low openings can be into the home, but if previous owners were not aware of these restrictions and made changes to the home, openings could have been created too low.

And while you are talking to the public works/engineering department, you can ask if they have any records showing drainage or flooding problems for that particular property. Another good place to check for potential flooding issues is the FEMA website. This site allows you to type in an address and pull up a map to see if a property lies in an area designated as a floodplain. Even if you discover the home and other structures are outside a floodplain, note if any other part of the property lies within one because this might prevent you from making improvements to the lot in the future in the portion of the property lying within the floodplain.

Adjacent improvements

As you walk around the property, note any infrastructure such as waterways or bike paths or sidewalks. Ask who maintains these. Some creeks and other improvements might naturally degrade causing a loss of soil or other changes to the property. If this occurs, is the homeowner responsible for the repair or will a homeowners' association or other entity make the repair?

Another item to note is the type of roadway. Some streets are constructed with curb and gutters while others have only ditches with no curbs or gutters. The cost of these improvements are reflected in the cost of the property so if you purchase a lot on a road with no curb/gutters or even sidewalks, it did not include a cost for these types of improvements. If after you purchase, you decide that you do not like that the edge of the road or the ditch is difficult to maintain, and you would like to change it, be aware that this change might not happen so easily. The city will not typically construct these improvements at no cost to the property owners along that street. The reasoning behind this is why should all the taxpayers in a city pay to improve specific properties other than their own, particularly if city revenues are so low that the city can barely keep up with just maintaining pavement? However, there could be some cities that have made the decision to make these types of improvements at no cost to the property owner. So it might be helpful to check with the city to find out their policy for upgrading roadways and streets if that would make a difference in your purchase.

Also keep in mind some roads are private and not maintained by the city. If the property is located on a private roadway, the homeowner could end up responsible for all costs related to maintenance of that roadway.

Easements

While you are checking out the subdivision plat for drainage issues, also look to see what easements are located on the property. It is very typical to have at least a five-foot easement or reservation along all side and rear property lines for utility placement. There can also be wider easements for water or sewer lines or for drainage ways. If a pipe or other utility has been placed in these easements, be aware that at some point, the utility company might need to get in there to make repairs. Improvements or landscaping are not supposed to be placed in these easement areas; however, many times property owners either ignore or are not aware of these easements so swimming pools, fences, and gardens end up in these locations. If the utility company damages these improvements while making necessary repairs, the property owner might not be reimbursed for any damages. So it is helpful to find out the policy from the specific utility companies on how they handle entry and damage to improvements made in their easements. Also if there is a drainage easement, it is important for these to remain completely clear or flooding can occur. Note any potential blockages that have been placed in these areas. And be aware of their locations and how they might affect any planned improvements to the site.

Sewers

I know no one wants to think of sewers when they are shopping for a new home, but I think it is pretty safe to say no one likes sewage flowing into their home. So a little bit of research up front can go a long way to minimizing problems later on. One of the most important things to remember is that if a home has a sewer, and most in a city do, there is always a chance that something can happen to cause sewage to back up into a home. The key is to understand why and what can be done to minimize the chances of a backup. Most of the time, backups are due to something that is wrong with the private sewer from the home to the main. These problems can be caused by blockages from roots, dirt or other debris from failed pipes, or just faulty pipe construction. Cities usually keep track of backups so you can find out if a home has had regular backups by contacting the city keeping in mind that one backup is not an indication there is a problem. What you are looking for is a record of constant and regular backups. You can also televise a private sewer to make sure there are no problems.

The other reason a home might experience sewer back ups is due to overloading of the city sewers during a rain event. Some cities still have what is known as combined sewers. These are pipes that normally carry only sewage, but during a rainfall, might also carry stormwater. Unfortunately, these combined sewers were not sized to carry a very large storm so when they fill up, the water can back up into homes. The EPA is working with cities to eliminate this problem, but it is very costly and might not have been addressed yet in some communities. And most insurance companies for cities will not pay property owners for sewer backups so you might need your own insurance to cover backups if they occur. You can find out if a property is hooked up to a combined sewer by calling the city's public works/engineering department. That department can also tell you if that particular line experiences backups during a storm. Also keep in mind, there are things that can be done to help prevent backups in a home from a combined system, and a home might already have these in place, or they could be installed after purchase.

Neighboring properties

As you are walking around the property to check out the drainage, also note any landscaping in adjacent properties. Look for trees or shrubs that might already encroach over the line or might be close enough to encroach in the future. This encroachment might not be a problem for everyone, but sometimes it is so be aware of how you might have to handle cutting trees or bushes back to the line.

Nuisances

Another item to notice as you walk around outside are any potential nuisances. These can be just about anything depending on what types of property uses might deter you from enjoying your property. They seem to be different for everyone, so I am going to list a few I've had people complain about, but keep in mind these do not bother everyone so my intention is not to present them as actual nuisances because some people view these as benefits to the property.

Railroads
Bike Paths
Parks (particularly loudspeakers from pools and ball diamonds in the summer)
Schools (high schools might be particularly an issue with parking)
Factories/Industries
Restaurants or other commercial uses
Highways/busy roads

Unfortunately when shoppping for a home you only spend a short amount of time at the property so you might not even notice these until after you have moved in. And only then do you realize that this use is a problem. The key to remember is that as a property owner, you have little to no control over a use that is already in place when you purchase. For example, if I buy a home across from a school during the summer and then in the fall realize I can't stand all the traffic in the school year from dropping off and picking up kids, it is not reasonable for me to expect everyone to somehow get rid of all the cars or to relocate the school. But it is understandable that I might not have been aware of just how significant the traffic is because of when I purchased the home. So spend some time just hanging out in the yard looking around at what is nearby. Listen to the sounds, try to identify any smells, and if you see neighbors ask them if there are any traffic, odor, or noise issues they experience at any time in the year.

Another thing to keep in mind with this issue is that someone might have tried to minimize the nuisance with fencing, walls, or landscaping. If these are not on your property and under your control, be aware that they might go away at some point, and you might not have any control on replacing them.

Seasonal Issues

This might not be a problem everywhere, but I bring this one up mainly because I live where it snows. And if you buy a home anytime it is not winter, it's easy to forget how awful it can get when it snows. Unfortunately when it does snow, we need to put that stuff somewhere. So as you are hanging around on the property listening, smelling, and hoping a neighbor stops by, think about the winter (if you are in "snow country") and visualize where you will put the snow from your driveway. Also think about where the city might put the snow from your road. Most of the time, the snow from the road will end up a pile at the curb or end of the driveway which happens to everyone and cannot be avoided. But if there is an open field across from the house or the home is in a cul-de-sac, snow might end up somewhere and in a large enough quantity that it causes problems you won't want. This is another good thing to ask the neighbors about so you aren't surprised after that first, big snowfall.

Nighttime issues

Another good idea is to check out the property at night. If you only look during the day, you might not get a good feel for the level of activity in the neighborhood when people are off school and work. Also, notice the level of lighting near the property. The lighting is determined by the city so if you believe there is not enough or too little, you might not be able to get it changed unless you add lights on your own property at your own cost.

Home Interior

I could write a whole other post on this, but I won't go into it all because there are so many items to check and many require a professional background to properly inspect. So my advice on this is, if you don't have that professional background yourself, have a home or building inspector inspect the house for any problems or deficiencies.

Below is a checklist you can print out and take with you on your home buying adventures. This cheat sheet summarizes the items described in more detail above. And if you have any other tips you think should be added, please comment below or email us your experiences.

Public Works Group Home Buying Tips and Cheat Sheet

April 28, 2012

Are Second Life and Other Virtual Worlds the Coffee Houses of the Future?

Last year when I attended the APWA Expo in Denver, one of the speakers shared his view of how the rise of coffee houses played a major part in the advancement of mankind. It seems that prior to the introduction of coffee as a beverage, most people just drank alcohol.

Medieval Tavern

And if you're familiar with history, this probably doesn't surprise you because as you know, back then, the other alternative, water, was usually contaminated and unsafe to drink. Unfortunately while alcohol at moderate doses did not kill as water might have, it definitely was (and still is) a depressant. So people really were not too motivated or even had the presence of mind to innovate and discover new ways of doing things. Then along came coffee and the establishments in which people congregated to drink this new beverage. I suppose in a way it could be looked at as a wakening of the population. People discovered others with similar interests, and they learned about or developed new ideas. To me this seems similar to what I see occurring with people today – but this time it's not driven by a change in consumption of a beverage, but instead is being advanced by a change in consumption of media. And it seems to be particularly accelerated in the virtual world community.

Just about everything new that I have learned or been exposed to over the last 5 1/2 years has been because of my involvement in Second Life and other virtual environments. But when I try to explain this to people who are not involved in this technology, I don't think they really understand why this is possible or the incredible rate at which learning happens in that environment. Probably because I do not explain it well enough. But I was thinking about this today and realized perhaps I should be comparing it to the coffee house story to get my point across. But in my example, television would take the place of alcohol. This is because, like alcohol in the past, television has kept our population complacent and accepting of the status quo. The hours spent sitting in front of that box kept us from reaching out to each other and discovering and sharing new ideas or inspiring each other to reach beyond what we know today.

Cafe in Second Life

In my example, the technology making virtual worlds possible would be the new "beverage on the block." And the immersive 3D environments where all this takes place have become the new "coffee house" where any of us from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection can meet, share ideas, learn, motivate, and inspire each other to expand our horizons. I would compare the community congregating in these new meeting houses to those who first started hanging out in coffee houses in the late 1700s/early 1800s. Just like the traditional coffee house, some days you might just find everyone sitting around enjoying the company; other days there's an excitement or buzz in the air because a new topic has been introduced, and people are excited about its potential to change our lives. All of us who spend time there usually leave with much more than what we brought to the table. And the people who have not yet realized what's in the coffee house or what it offers, avoid it and follow their traditional habits not really knowing or understanding what is really going on in there.

In a way, I suppose other online communities and environments could also be considered to represent virtual coffee houses. Just like not only Starbucks serves up a great cup of coffee, so too online tools other than virtual worlds offer technology and a platform where people can meet and share. Over time, I like to think that as coffee houses eventually evolved to become ubiquitous and frequented by a large number of our population, virtual worlds will one day become a common hang out spot for public discourse, discussion, and expression. I wonder if people will look back at this time in history and be able to attribute our future advances to the rise in technology and 3D immersive environments.

April 14, 2012

Public Works Puzzles

Lately I've been working on developing some educational coursework related to the public works field. Through this effort I've come across some interesting online tools that can be used for educational purposes. One of these tools, Jigzone, takes a photo and turns it into a jigsaw puzzle. As an example, I've started with one of my favorite photos of a roller compacting an asphalt pavement. If you like, you can try solving the puzzle by clicking the image below. And if you want to make your own puzzles, all you have to do is create a free account over on the Jigzone website. Because the site allows embedding of your puzzles on your own website, you can take photos of your community or your projects and embed them on your agency's website as a way to engage citizens.

March 26, 2012

The Things Contractors Say

Shortly after I started inspecting construction almost thirty years ago, I started realizing most contractors have the same response to similar situations. When I was younger and asked a contractor to do something, the typical response was something like, "Honey, I've been doing this for thirty years, and …." Then they would go on to tell me why I was wrong and they were right. Or they would try to reassure me that whatever they did would be ok, and they knew this because of their vast experience – obviously I could not know that because I had not worked as long as they had.

Of course, not all contractors try to convince you that they know better or you just aren't experienced enough to understand what should really be done. Some are very open about not wanting to do what you ask. In these instances there's the straighforward responses of, "you and I will be long gone when this fails" or "don't worry – it's getting buried – no one will see it." At least with these they are honest about admitting something might not be right, but are hoping that you don't care enough to require them to do it right. I always liked the one, "you'll never see it from (insert next town over)." And one that always annoyed me was "we ain't building a watch."

Fortunately for me, I was usually confident what I was asking them to do most definitely needed to be done. So the subtle intimidation never really worked with me. My experiences working for cities had given me opportunities to see the failed results of poor construction. And you don't have to wait 30 years to see failures when you work in public works. So most of the time, I could describe exactly what would happen if they didn't do what was required. And I was also fortunate to work with some really excellent contractors who never used those responses and brought a lot of value to a project.

But after all those years and having thought I'd heard every response in the book, the other day on my construction job I heard a new one. The foreman on my water main job had neglected to follow some of the specifications. And when I called his boss to try to straighten everything out, he obviously did not like me calling to complain and asking him to fix things. So his response to me was, "you better watch it because you're going to get yourself a reputation." I'm still not sure what he really meant . But whatever it was, I do know it was obviously a response he felt would scare me enough for me to change my request or not bother him anymore. But instead of intimidating me, it made me think, I really need to start writing down the things contractors say.

January 27, 2012July 27, 2012

Plan Holder/Bidder List – To Share or Not to Share

We currently have a project out to bid for the installation of about a quarter mile of 10-inch water main. As usual, after we release the notification to bidders, we begin receiving requests from companies asking for a list of bidders or plan holders. Our city's policy is to not release this list until after the bid opening because of the potential of affecting bid prices. For example, a potential bidder could submit a different bid based on who the competition is and how many other companies have picked up plans.

With the relatively new FOIA laws in Illinois, we've had companies trying to claim the information as a FOIA request. However, we have been denying the request under the following exemption stated in this law:

(h) Proposals and bids for any contract, grant, or agreement, including information which if it were disclosed would frustrate procurement or give an advantage to any person proposing to enter into a contractor agreement with the body, until an award or final selection is made. Information prepared by or for the body in preparation of a bid solicitation shall be exempt until an award or final selection is made.

We received a request the other day from a company outside of Illinois and sent them our standard denial letter based on this exemption. They ended up sending a letter to the State of Illinois arguing that we should release the information because they want to submit bids as a subcontractor and the information would encourage a more competitive bid. There are several issues with this.

First and most importantly, we believe we are exempt from releasing it, although the final decision will now rest with the State.
Next, if the State determines we must release the information, this would become a FOIA request for a commercial purpose which the company failed to mention and by failing to do so violated the law. However if the State determines we must release the information and if the company ends up properly requesting the information, we would have 21 days to respond since it is a request for a commercial purpose which means they would receive the information after the bid opening rendering it useless for their purpose.
Finally, the project involves no work that would require the type of services they appear to offer. It would be like bidding out a road resurfacing project and a supplier of excavators wanting to get a list of bidders to give them prices on new equipment. There's just no specific pay item for that work. So I am not even sure how giving a heavy equipment sales company a list of bidders for a specific project that has no specialty items helps lower our cost.

The end result is a waste of time for everyone. Where I worked before, I ended up not being able to even send out lists because we offered proposal materials online so we would not have known who downloaded them. And if we continue to have issues with this, we would probably end up choosing to do the same or just not keep a list. But I was wondering how other agencies are handling these requests, if others believe releasing the lists can affect the bids, and if other states require agencies to release the information prior to opening of the bid.

UPDATE: 7/27/2012

We're posting below a comment we recently received for this article. The reason we're tagging it onto the end of the article is that we've set up posts so the ability to comment is turned off after several weeks to prevent spammers from posting on old articles. So the commenter was unable to post it in the normal manner. Because we definitely wanted readers to see valuable comments in the context of the original post, we thought we'd just add it to the end.

Comment from Cassie Dandridge Selleck

I just wanted to respond to the blog post titled "To Share or Not to Share". I am a vendor, specifically for rentals of under bridge access equipment. While I completely understand how time-consuming it would be to field phone calls requesting bidders or plan holders lists, I wanted to just throw our perspective in there. First of all, I have never CALLED for a list. I agree with your blogger that this is asking someone else to do my job. I also get it that some vendors are not this considerate. But as for posting the list of bidders on your web page, I just can't see where this is a negative, despite the concern for price-fixing. Our rates are our rates. They don't change for anyone unless there are extenuating circumstances. Being able to get our rental rates to the estimators bidding the jobs is crucial to getting the best rate possible for all. Anyone who is going to cheat or inflate prices is going to figure out a way to do that, and it is just never a good business plan. We are a small company trying to make it in a big market. If we are going to keep our RATES low, we have to keep our COSTS low. Advertising is expensive, so we use plan holders lists to update our database and contact contractors directly to let them know we exist. If they need us, they contact us and we provide a quote. This is the cheapest, most effective way to do this and it has worked well. None of the issues posted by the blogger have ever been a part of our business strategy. We just want to get the word out to the companies bidding jobs that we are here to provide additional services they need. When estimators are trying to get these bids in, they are scrambling to get all the information, too. It just makes sense that the public works departments would be trying to help get the best information and best quotes possible by posting who is bidding what jobs. Just a thought.