Common Design Omissions

1. Common Design Omissions • Design Stage • Affect on Quantities Post-Bid • Affect on Contractor • Affect on Relationships • Enhancement of Construction Plans

2. Common Design OmissionsDesign Phase • Survey • Subsurface Investigation • In-House construction of plans

3. Common Design Omissions Design Phase - Survey • Control was not tied down • Used bad control information • Acquired insufficient or erroneous information • Topo all tie in points • Survey the existing crowns • Use of companies with poor past history • Same issues that contractors see • Flight Data Use • Accuracy

4. Common Design Omissions Design Phase – Subsurface Investigation • Insufficient or incomplete boring information • Verification of information received

5. Common Design Omissions Design Phase – In House • Plan sheets • Construction Layout • Missing data • Profiles do not tie together • Side streets tied in wrong • Typicals – Plan Sheets – Cross Sections • Different information • Superelevations • Missing typical sections • Guardrail flares • ROW • Drainage ditches • Drainage • Incorrectly located • Superelevations • Low point • Missing structures

6. Common Design Omissions Design Phase – In House • Plan sheets • Structures • Alignments and elevations • Sloping caps and abutments • Boxouts • Wall profiles • Utilities • Not shown on the plans • Not depicted correctly • How do we design around this information?

7. Common Design OmissionsDesign Phase – In House • Plan sheets • Erosion • Areas are overwrought/untouched • Silt Fence at cut slopes and shoulders • Staging • Site visits • Staging • Drainage • Tapers • Widths • ROW • Drainage • Cost to cure information

16. Common Design OmissionsAffect On Quantities Post Bid • To the owner • To the contractor • To the designer

17. Common Design OmissionsAffect on Contractor • Resurvey • Office calculations • Project delay • Quantity overrun • Cost • Quality • Public Opinion

18. Right now, your project would have to be considered a disaster. I could have walked from the fire station to Abernathy faster that was able to drive. Yet once past Abernathy, I was able to drive between 40 and 50 mph. There is a major flaw in your design that I can't believe. Just before Johnson's Ferry hits Abernathy coming from Sandy Springs, the road used to expand into two outbound lanes. That allowed you to queue up twice the number of cars waiting for the next green light. When that light turned green, those cars were able to take off in a straight line, rather than having to make a left turn. In other words, your new intersection is about 40% as efficient for all those commuters coming down Johnson's Ferry. If this abysmal design is not fixed, you will see accidents and potentially violent behavior at Sandy Springs Circle and and Johnson's Ferry road. Commuters will be furious if today's experience is truly representative of what you have created. I mean tar and feather, fire someone furious. I hope there is better to come. If not, someone in your office should experience career consequences for such an obviously horrible design. Regards,

19. Common Design OmissionsAffect on Relationships • Contractor is not a designer • Understanding Design Intentions • Adversarial Relationships • How do we resolve problems? • Time to review and absorb plans • Building survey files • Resolve discovered omissions/errors or correct the contractor • Begin construction • Stake the project and absorb the stakes • Resolve omissions/errors discovered in the field (for the life of the project) • The superiority of the three dimensional field

20. Common Design OmissionsEnhancement of Construction Plans • Survey is the key • Attention to detail • Incorporate knowledge from past mistakes • Neat and visible • Willingness to listen and help • No designer is perfect – no contractor is perfect • Compliment of views • Give and take (Total cooperation from owner/designer/contractor)

21. Common design omissions • Questions or Comments