Page 20 - Arkansas 811

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17
ramifications of cost and schedule implications if conflicts cannot be avoided fosters good design decisions.
How to synthesize and display the geophysical, visual, and record data
is described in ASCE 38-22. Utilities within a project’s limits are not static; new ones are added, the project may relocate some early, and there may be other changes. A mechanism to keep the utility data current throughout project development is an essential practice.
As new data is added to the project, communication of those changes to
the task designers becomes important. Hence, fees and lines of communication for this service must be established. Geophysics, visual evidence and records are uncertain and require professional judgment. If a potential conflict is identified between the utility data
and the design, exposure and accurate measurements of what is discovered in the excavation should be made. These results may change the judgments of the previous work, so provisions should be made to update this data so that
the snapshot in time is as re-liable as possible. So, the process of investigating
and documenting existing utilities
on a project is iterative and requires continual communication between the project parties.
Utility coordination typically includes, but is not limited to, these tasks: utility conflict identification; meeting set-up and management between design consultants, utility owners,
and permit agencies; determination
of prior rights; sequencing of utility construction; relocation routing; relocation design; salvage value;
utility plans and estimates review
and approvals; determination of and securing of required utility easements and temporary construction easements; scheduling; writing special provisions; agreement development; securing policy exceptions; developing design alternatives, costs, time versus utility relocation; and per-forming municipal water and sewer design.
This process involves the utility owner early in the project which is sometimes a challenge. For preventing damages during project development, a budget needs to be established. This amount
is not widely known nor shared in the A/E/C industry for a complete SUE Investigation. The industry standard is 0.5% to 2% of the construction value. Breaking this down further, assume 0.5% to 1% for rural projects and 1% to 2% for urban projects. These numbers are for budgeting purposes and might have to be doubled given the individual nature of each project. Let us encourage our fellow A/E/C professionals, clients, and utility owners that a complete SUE investigation, QL B (which will likely contain QL C and QL D depictions) and QL A test holes, if needed, be performed as part of the engineering plans that are advertised for bid or negotiated for bid and can be shared with the applicable utility owners.
We feel that utility identification at this stage of planning and design development helps to prevent utility damages and service disruptions to the utility companies and their customers.
With this process, the utility locators responding to the excavation tickets during the construction phase will have the best available information to ensure that what they identify on the
29%
18 • Arkansas 811 Magazine 2023, Issue 2