ROW Infrastructure Improvement Program

Client:: City of Miami Beach

Location:: Miami Beach, FL

The City of Miami Beach Right of Way Infrastructure Improvement Program targeted 13 individual neighborhoods within the City to receive a combination of infrastructure upgrades consisting of water main replacements, stormwater collection and disposal enhancements, as well as hardscape and streetscape improvements. Hazen and Sawyer oversaw the planning and design of all projects from commencement in 2001 through the construction of approximately 40% of the improvements, before transitioning remaining efforts to the City’s own Capital Improvements Project Office in September 2009.

Project Outcomes and Benefits

Replaced the majority of existing citywide water mains which were installed 50 - 80 years ago and had reached the end of their useful life, improving flow and safety issues related to potable water distribution and replacement of corroded galvanized pipes and pipes installed with lead joints.
Implemented stormwater collection and runoff treatment to meet regulatory treatment requirement, thereby protecting the Biscayne Bay - a nationally recognized aquatic preserve and one of Florida’s highest priority water bodies - and relieving flooding along local collector roads.
Implemented a variety of hardscape improvements to enhance pedestrian access, provide traffic calming, and generally improve the aesthetics and quality of life of City residents.
Maintained adequate competition and construction quality through the implementation of Alternative Project Delivery Methods, including Design/Build, Design/Bid/Build, Job Order Contracting, and Best Value Procurement.
Implemented Quality and Cost Control initiatives to result a Program that operated at a total 17% Soft Cost to 83% Hard Cost ratio, when similar Programs of this magnitude in the south Florida area run a 25%/75% ratio.
Developed Program Work Plan and Construction Management Manual documents that outlined detailed procedures to ensure cooperation, interaction, and communication among all the participants.
As the number of individual pieces of correspondence can easily run into the tens of thousands on a program of this magnitude, established an integrated document control system to assure complete control of engineering and construction records, correspondence, reports, design documents, meeting notes and other information.

Projects replaced approximately fifty-two miles of existing aged infrastructure within narrow, congested, sometimes heavily traveled public right of ways with new 8-inch ductile iron pipe.
Improvements required milling and placement of over 1,480,284 square yards of asphalt on existing roadways.

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Work included an aggressive below-grade utility identification program, inclusive of utility owner contacts, forensic excavations and otherwise to minimize unforeseen condition utility interruptions and change orders.

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Projects included installation of more than 3,390 pedestrian friendly decorative lighting poles, approximately 9,982 trees and palms, and more than 308,440 shrubs throughout the City.

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The nine-year program required installation/replacement of more than 76.5 miles of curb and gutter and 1,502,000 square feet of cast-in-place concrete sidewalk

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The program was complicated by significant construction sequencing requirements, limiting construction to less efficient lengths along public corridors, but necessary to preserve on-street parking and access to adjacent residences.

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Projects replaced approximately fifty-two miles of existing aged infrastructure within narrow, congested, sometimes heavily traveled public right of ways with new 8-inch ductile iron pipe.
Improvements required milling and placement of over 1,480,284 square yards of asphalt on existing roadways.
Work included an aggressive below-grade utility identification program, inclusive of utility owner contacts, forensic excavations and otherwise to minimize unforeseen condition utility interruptions and change orders.
Projects included installation of more than 3,390 pedestrian friendly decorative lighting poles, approximately 9,982 trees and palms, and more than 308,440 shrubs throughout the City.
The nine-year program required installation/replacement of more than 76.5 miles of curb and gutter and 1,502,000 square feet of cast-in-place concrete sidewalk
The program was complicated by significant construction sequencing requirements, limiting construction to less efficient lengths along public corridors, but necessary to preserve on-street parking and access to adjacent residences.

The City of Miami Beach is both a renowned world class destination as well as home to a diverse population of approximately 90,000 full-time residents, with over 180,000 inhabitants during peak tourist periods. In the 1990’s, an initiative entitled “The City of Miami Beach Neighborhood Right-of-Way Infrastructure Improvement Program” was conceptualized.

Despite having faced a series of challenges during the nine year Program Management effort (from 2001 through 2009), including fluctuating market cycles, direct impacts from hurricanes, and the day-to-day demands of managing copious amounts of construction within commercial, residential and highly-urbanized right of way corridor, the Hazen and Sawyer successfully moved the Projects forward with no claims originating during the Program period, and Change Orders totaling well below the anticipated levels that are indicative of the aged / historic City corridors with limited below grade record information.

The Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) awarded the Project Achievement Honorable Mention Award to Hazen and Sawyer, in recognition of its outstanding program management services for the City of Miami Beach Right-of-Way (ROW) Infrastructure Improvement Program.

Projects