TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Erick Lee, Public Works Director
Katherine Doherty, City Engineer
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of a Resolution Approving an Increase in the Construction Contingency Amount for the Sepulveda Bridge Widening Project by $148,775 (Public Works Director Lee).
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 23-0035
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution increasing the authority of the City Manager and/or his or her designee to approve additional work on the Sepulveda Bridge Widening Project, if necessary, by $148,775 for a total contingency amount of up to $1,027,880.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The Sepulveda Bridge Widening Project construction award to C.A. Rasmussen was $8,791,040, with an authorized construction contingency amount of $879,105, for a total contract amount not to exceed of $9,670,145.
In addition, under the terms of an agreement between the City and RREEF America REIT II Corp BB (RREEF) related to the Manhattan Village Shopping Center development, the City agreed to develop and construct a pedestrian trail under the Sepulveda Bridge. Due to the worksite’s proximity and relation to the Sepulveda Bridge Widening project, the City utilized C.A. Rasmussen to complete work on the pedestrian trail on behalf of RREEF in the amount of $252,129. The cost of this work has already been reimbursed by RREEF.
While construction on this bridge was substantially completed in September 2022, the City is still in the process of closing out this project. Due to change orders related to unforeseen field conditions, the contract work associated with the Sepulveda Bridge Widening Project totaled $9,566,791. Along with the $252,129 related to the RREEF pedestrian trail, the total cost on the contract is anticipated to surpass the current authorized amount for additional work. This necessitates approval from the City Council to increase the contract authority with C.A. Rasmussen by $148,775 for a new total not to exceed $9,818,920. There are no additional fiscal implications at this time.
BACKGROUND:
The purpose of the Sepulveda Bridge Widening Project was to widen the northbound lane of the existing Sepulveda Bridge at 33rd Street (i.e., the pinch point). The bridge was 100 feet wide and 165 feet long, with five-foot-wide sidewalks and no shoulders. The Project included widening the east side of the bridge by approximately 29 feet to provide one additional northbound lane on Sepulveda Boulevard within the Project area. The widened structure includes a total of seven through lanes (three southbound and four northbound). The widened bridge has a shoulder varying from two to eight feet on the east side of the bridge, and the non-standard sidewalks were widened to six feet. Seismic retrofits of the existing bridge were also completed.
A construction contract with C.A. Rasmussen was awarded by City Council on July 7, 2020. Notice to proceed was issued on August 6, 2020. In September 2020, a conflict was identified between a six-inch diameter Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) gas line and the bridge piles, requiring SoCalGas to relocate their line. The gas line relocation was completed in November 2021, and construction was substantially completed in September 2022.
On February 11, 2021, the City and RREEF entered into a Reimbursement Agreement for work related to the Sepulveda Bridge Widening Project. This agreement was the result of a January 30, 2017 agreement in which RREEF agreed to reimburse certain costs incurred by the City to design and construct improvements to the pedestrian trail underneath the bridge on RREEF’s behalf. The purpose of the improvements was to link Veteran’s Parkway to the Manhattan Village Shopping Center.
C.A. Rasmussen was authorized by construction change order to proceed with the pedestrian trail improvements in the amount of $252,129, and the City invoiced RREEF for the work. In February 2023, RREEF remitted payment to the City in full.
DISCUSSION:
Staff is currently in the closeout phase of the construction contract, which includes final negotiation of outstanding construction change orders and potential claims between the City and the construction contractor. Successful negotiations are complete and the final construction change order amount related to the original scope of work, which did not include the pedestrian trail improvements, is $775,751, or 8.8% of the original contract amount. By including the construction change order for the pedestrian trail improvements, the total change orders for this contract amount to $1,027,880, or 11.7% of the original contract amount. At the time City Council authorized the original contract with C.A. Rasmussen in July 2020, the authorized construction contingency amount was $879,105, or 10%.
Although the cost of the pedestrian trail improvements has been reimbursed to the City by RREEF, an increase of $148,775 to the amount authorized in construction contingency for the construction contract with C.A. Rasmussen (an additional 1.7% of the original contract amount) is required to execute all construction change orders for the project.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
During the construction phase, public outreach included weekly construction notices, electronic message boards on Sepulveda Boulevard for northbound and southbound traffic, and updates on the City website. No public outreach was conducted related to this action.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
No environmental review was conducted related to this action. However, environmental review regarding the overall project (CEQA Negative Declaration) was completed on February 24, 1988. Subsequent environmental re-validations were completed on June 1, 2004, May 5, 2014, and July 20, 2018.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution No. 23-0035
2. Agreement - RREEF (2021)
3. Location Map