City of Hoquiam, Downtown Pedestrian and Safety Improvements

Skillings developed PS&E to upgrade more than 3900 square yards of ADA-compliant sidewalk in a base bid plus four bid additives.  The sidewalk was at least 10.5 feet wide and included over 30 ADA-compliant curb ramps.  Design included new gravity block walls with pedestrian railing, as well as replacement of all existing stairs down to the yards and new associated handrails.  New curb and gutter was designed to improve drainage, and all existing catch basins were replaced with catch basins designed to current standards.  A NEPA programmatic exclusion was prepared, as were Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans.  The project included complete construction management/administration and inspection with all LAG documentation.  This project was federally funded.

Intercity Transit, 2015 and 2016 Bus Stop Pads Improvements

These 2015 and 2016 Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funded projects updated 71 stops throughout Thurston County to improve accessibility for riders.  Key to the success of the projects was sizing our effort to the level of complexity required.  Each stop was field reviewed and non-electronic survey methods were used to gather data for design, which significantly reduced project costs.  The plans included before and after photos that clearly showed the final vision.  This led to easier reviews for non-technical staff and better client input on designs.  Construction management, inspection, and materials documentation were provided for the project.

2015 Bus Stop Improvements

Skillings provided design, construction management, and inspection services for the design and construction of 19 ADA-compliant bus pads located in various areas of the Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, Thurston County, and WSDOT jurisdictions.  We also reviewed an additional 11 pads designed previously by a different firm, and provided re-design of three of those pads.  The goal of the project was to improve accessibility for Intercity Transit’s riders.  This portion of our work featured:

• Cost Reduction Measures: Our team utilized an innovative method of plan sheet preparation, which incorporated actual photos showing before and after conditions.  Each stop was field-reviewed, and non-electronic survey methods were used to gather data for field layout of the design.  This approach reduced cost and saved the client review time.  Despite having both a fast-track schedule and providing three additional designs, the PS&E was delivered on time and within budget.
• Collaboration with Permitting Authorities: Patrick Skillings and Tim Horton led the coordination effort with the Local Agencies for permits during the design and construction phases.  The team’s expertise and responsive service to the various permit agencies helped ensure that the contractor understood and abided by all permit requirements, avoiding any schedule delays.
• Familiarity with Federal Transit Authority Funding Requirements: The project team is experienced with FTA funding and documentation requirements.  The team worked with Intercity Transit to ensure that documentation was well organized and included all elements to maintain the project’s federal funding eligibility.  In addition to the funding requirements, the team also provided construction management and inspections to ensure that all the constructed bus pads were ADA-compliant.

2016 Bus Stop Improvements

Skillings provided design, construction management, and inspection services for the design and construction of 41 ADA-compliant bus pads located in various areas of the Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, Yelm, Thurston County, and WSDOT jurisdictions.  As with the previous bus stop improvement project, the goal of the project was to improve accessibility for Intercity Transit’s riders.  This portion of our work featured:

• Familiarity with Intercity Transit Staff and Procedures: At the end of the 2015 bus stop improvements project, the project team sat down with Intercity Transit for a debrief to identify areas where the project team could make improvements, pitfalls encountered, and lessons learned. For example, the discussion helped the team understand the importance to our client of technical information being shared in a way that they can easily understand, review, and provide feedback. The team incorporated information from the debrief to improve our internal processes and to foster a stronger working relationship with Intercity staff, thus allowing the 2016 bus stop project to be successfully completed on time and within budget.
• Additional Cost Reduction Measures: The 2016 bus stop improvements project had double the number of bus pads as compared to the 2015 project. The project team was able to further reduce the design and construction costs per bus pad by specifying design details such as a thicker concrete pedestrian curb as opposed to using steel rebar reinforcement, a lesson learnt from the 2015 project. This, in addition to the previously used method of field layout, field design, and plan sheet preparation, helped to reduce the overall cost per bus pad.
• Continual Process Improvements: For the 2016 bus stop improvements project, the project team also looked towards the interactions between the bus pads, the bus driver, and the rider dynamic to better understand and optimize the locations and dimensions of the bus pads. This allowed the team to effectively design the bus pads as well as suggest potential alternative locations when a potential issue (such as standing water or irrigation sprinkler overspray) was observed during the field review. The team also developed standard plans for different bus stop types for the project, which have an added benefit of decreasing response cost and time to private developers needing to construct future stops.

San Juan County, Guardrail Improvements/Installation

Skillings prepared PS&E and provided construction management for guardrail improvements at eight locations on Orcas and San Juan Islands. To complete this project, we obtained the mapping from the County and added utility locations and additional data by our survey crew, and calculated the length of need for County-prioritized areas warranting guardrails. Exact lengths of guardrail, post lengths, and types of terminal treatment were identified for each site. Our construction management services included locating a construction inspector temporarily on Orcas and San Juan Islands.