Sounds like you’re the man!
I guess my question is why don't they work 24/7 to get this done more timely? I know this is done in Houston because I would see people working under lights when I would go see relatives over the years. I am not poking anyone because I know zero about the industry but I do know, if you want to finish something you have to work on it like you want to get it finished with a sense of urgency. The appearance is zero urgency due to limited workers on sites.
76 between Dibble and Lindsay has been under a widening and shoulder project for almost two years now for four miles. They are almost done now but still have the 45 mph speed limit signs with no one working on it and no cones. It looks completely done, yet it is still considered a construction zone. We are also going on six months to remove a toll booth on the Norman extension, yet no one is there but the barrels and cops are out in force. Why are they not planning the schedule to knock this out in 30 days? It can't be too hard since in this example there is zero traffic since that is routed off the area being updated.
I think the frustration is people see cones and barricades but the appearance of any work getting done is by a few people at a time. If anyone is even working on it.
I'll answer that as best I can but I was never a Project Manager dealing with this, but I was sometimes involved with early meetings where it was discussed.
Sometimes A+B bidding is included in the contract meaning a Contractor will receive $$ incentives for every day of early completion. A contract may be written for 90 day completion and if its finished in 80 days they may get as much as say $10,000 per day (dont quote that, it varies). That money covers overtime labor cost and still makes the company more money. In my experience, this mainly happens when a road closure has to be made. Incentives plus not working under traffic means a faster completion of the project and road opening back up.
In your case up in Tulsa, I have no idea how that was bid.
That’s terrible news! When I was working for ODOT (at the very bottom of the system) I invented an adjustable armrest for shovels. That way one shovel could fit anyone and you wouldn’t have to listen to all the extras rattling in the back of the truck. This is going to make it very difficult to raise capital.Actually I had a blast working there once I got my head calibrated. Fun bunch of guys in the county barn.
I-40 & Morgan was a quantum shift in improvement. I worked on Morgan and often wondered what brainiac approved three large truck stops and a truck wash on a single intersection. Traffic congestion was well past ridiculous and I often got off at Council and cut over.
My guess would be cost. Texas has so much more money than Oklahoma that it’s not even funny. The can afford to throw cubic dollars at problems to get them solved fast.
Spot on, it all about budget
So if a road job of a bridge replacement takes place in four months, vs a similar bridge replacement that takes 2 months using the same number of personnel, how does that relate to money savings?
If I were the project manager of a private company, I would hire what is necessary to do the project on time and under budget, so I could take that hot shot crew to the next bridge that needed to be rebuilt much sooner and complete the next job on time and under budget once more.
For the record, I have led many projects on a smaller scale, none of which have been road construction related.
My method seemed to work better with more profitability for the company resulting in projects being completed much faster.
Commiefornika rebuilt the bridges in Oakland that pancaked during the earthquake in less than a year.
That project in Oklahoma would take 5 years. That proves the job can be done in that length of time and it's still in service to this day.
I know most road projects in Ok are done with private contractors if not all of them. I've never seen an ODOT road/bridge building crew, although I'm open to correction on that.
So why do we allow private companies to build substandard roadways like the Kilpatrick extension that was like riding a roller coaster get away with not being at their expense to rebuild their fawkups? Who signed the papers that said that job was complete and satisfactory? Someone was derelict in their duty.
It has since been rebuilt, but at who's expense? I'm betting the taxpayer, but again willing to hear the story if that is not correct with details.
The money for the winning bid will only let you hire half of what you need. In OK it's probably less.
I often wonder if it's because of subcontracting too. If it's subbed out too many times the money to do it right ain't there. I don't remember the details and don't know if true but I once heard that someone running for governor in the 40's ran on making a state road contract winner actually do the work and not sub it. The guy didn't win. lol
ETA: In commiefornia they also do a lot of road construction at night only when traffic is "less".
Completely wrong.
The contractors that bid with ODOT are all fully staffed and have the budget to bid a $20-$60 million dollar project.
They are vetted contractors and it is a turnkey contract every time, start to completion.
