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CALTRANS PARTNERSHIPS AND UTILITY COORDINATION. By: Paul Pham April 22, 2009. PARTNERING. Utility companies are critical alliance in Caltrans’ project delivery CT committed to be a good partner. PARTNERING RESULTS. Inter Utility Coordinating Council (IUCC) Freeway Master Contract
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CALTRANS PARTNERSHIPS ANDUTILITYCOORDINATION By: Paul Pham April 22, 2009
PARTNERING • Utility companies are critical alliance in Caltrans’ project delivery • CT committed to be a good partner
PARTNERING RESULTS • Inter Utility Coordinating Council (IUCC) • Freeway Master Contract • Partnership Agreement • Utility Engineering
IUCC • Made up of representatives of major utility companies. • Represents the utility companies’ interests and point of view in coordinating transportation projects • Improves communication and understanding among the stakeholders
CT/IUCC Partnership • Joint pilot programs with IUCC members • Communication • Conflict Resolution • Share best practices • Find ways to adapt to the increasing numbers of local projects
FREEWAY MASTER CONTRACT (FMC) • Only addresses freeway projects • Eight (8) contracts with major utility companies • Addresses cost apportionment for relocations on freeway projects.
FREEWAY MASTER CONTRACTS • Background • In 1950s, Street and Highway Code 707.5 was established and authorized Caltrans to enter into contracts with utility companies • There was a large number of transportation projects • As a result, there were a sizable number of litigations on liability disputes. • Speed up the liability determination process
FREEWAY MASTER CONTRACTS • Background (continue) • There were nine Freeway Master Agreements executed at that time • These agreements had been in place until 2003 • Since 2003, Caltrans has entered into new Freeway Master Contracts with eight utility owners • The major change was the uniformity of the terms and conditions among all contracts
FREEWAY MASTER CONTRACTS • Freeway Project Definition
FREEWAY MASTER CONTRACTS • SWOT Analysis • Strengths: • Speeds up project delivery • Resulted in collaborative approach in working toward improvements in project delivery process • Eliminates legal action on liability dispute
MASTER CONTRACT • Analysis (continue) • Weakness: • Cost apportionments are still based on installation rights • Still some disagreement s in interpretations of language in the Freeway Master Contracts
MASTER CONTRACT • Analysis (continue) • Opportunities: • Re-evaluate the effectiveness of the contract in the current conditions • Renew/update the contracts adapting to the current budget allocations
MASTER CONTRACT • Analysis (continue) • Threats: • Increasing in numbers of local projects involved with Caltrans right of way • Challenges from Local Agency on the application of the Master Contracts over the franchise area within the local project limits
PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT • Background • As a result of the IUCC partnering efforts, Pacific Gas and Electric and Caltrans entered into high level meetings to discuss broad challenges among both organizations. • Resulting in a partnership to improve the joint efforts and understandings in all aspects between the two entities
PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT • Current development • A PG&E and Caltrans Partnership Agreement is being drafted by sub-committee • This agreement will be used by Caltrans as template for other partners
UTILITY ENGINEERING • Internal process improvement led by Caltrans RW Utilities and Design • Utility Engineer Unit • Utility Engineer Database
UTILITY ENGINEERING • Changing the Design structure to improve project delivery • Utility Engineering is a new functional unit in project development process • This unit is specialize in locating and collecting utility data, utility conflict avoidance, and utility relocation • Utility Engineering works side-by-side with , Project Engineer, and Right of Way Utilities
UTILITY ENGINEERING • Utility Engineering units involve in project process from conception to completion • Utility Engineering has been developed in every district. • Some districts have fully functioning units • Others are still piloting this project delivery support activity.
UTILITY ENGINEERING • Developing a statewide utility database • Collecting existing utility data • Integrating with other database • Permits • Maintenance • Traffic • Electrical • Proposing x,y,z’s requirement for new utility install within State’s RW.