BALTIMORE, MD — Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) Director Rudolph S. Chow, P.E., today announced that DPW will — subject to final approval of the Board of Estimates (BOE) — issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking an alternative delivery method for a critical sewage treatment project.

 

This is the first time DPW is using the Construction Manager at Risk method to deliver a construction project. By using a Construction Manager at Risk for the Headworks and Wet Weather Flow Equalization project at the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant, DPW expects to better control expenses and the schedule for the project.

 

The massive Headworks project is part of DPW’s ongoing efforts to improve the City’s sanitary sewer system. The project will pump sewage from chronically backed up mains into the treatment plant and help prevent sewage overflows in the City.

 

DPW anticipates issuing the RFP in late January 2016, provided BOE votes approval at an upcoming meeting. DPW intends to seek one Construction Manager at Risk for both the pre-construction and the construction phases of the project.

 

With this delivery method, the City engages a contractor who is willing to sign a firm price contract. It is an alternative to the Design, Bid, and Build model, in which a project is entirely designed before it is advertised for a construction contractor. The Construction Manager at Risk model is expected to improve access to value engineering efforts, create better cost and schedule certainty, and allow for more collaboration between the City and the contractor. 

 

The pre-construction phase is for professional services, including value engineering, determination of the most appropriate bid packages, master Critical Path Method schedule, and development of the guaranteed maximum price.

 

If the City and the Construction Manager at Risk reach a consensus on the price, the City may award the construction phase contract to that firm. The City reserves the right to re-compete the construction phase of the project, or any portion thereof, if a consensus cannot be reached with the Construction Manager at Risk firm.

 

Bids for the Headworks project came in far higher than DPW engineers estimated when the project was advertised last year. Plans and specifications from the original Headworks RFP are available by contacting Gurminder Singh atGurminder.Singh@baltimorecity.gov. The previous plans and specifications are for information only and not to be used in conjunction with the anticipated RFP.