Specification Framework for Communication Utilities and Estimation of Utility Adjustment Costs

208 Pages·2008·1.65 MB·English

by  Texas Transportation Institute

Technical Report Documentation Page

1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No.
FHWA/TX-08/0-4998-3

4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date
SPECIFICATION FRAMEWORK FOR COMMUNICATION October 2007
UTILITIES AND ESTIMATION OF UTILITY ADJUSTMENT Published: December 2007

COSTS
6. Performing Organization Code

7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No.
Cesar Quiroga, David Ford, Timothy Taylor, Stanley Kranc, Edgar Report 0-4998-3
Kraus, and Eun Sug Park

9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS)
Texas Transportation Institute

The Texas A&M University System 11. Contract or Grant No.
College Station, Texas 77843-3135 Project 0-4998

12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered
Texas Department of Transportation Technical Report:
Research and Technology Implementation Office September 2006 – August 2007

P. O. Box 5080 14. Sponsoring Agency Code
Austin, Texas 78763-5080

15. Supplementary Notes
Project performed in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway
Administration.
Project Title: Standardization of Special Provisions and Determination of Unit Costs for Utility Installations
URL: http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-4998-3.pdf

16. Abstract
Report 0-4998-1, “A Unit Cost and Construction Specification Framework for Utility Installations,”
described a prototype framework of construction specifications and corresponding unit cost work items for
utility installations at TxDOT and recommendations on how to implement that framework in Texas. That
report focused on water and sanitary sewer installations. Report 0-4998-2, “Construction Specification
Requirements for Water and Sanitary Sewer Installations,” provided a detailed description of the
corresponding specification requirements for water and sanitary sewer utility installations that could be used
to prepare the construction specifications.
This report is a follow up to the 0-4998-1 and 0-4998-2 reports. It describes a prototype framework of
specification requirements and corresponding unit cost work items for communication utilities. The
requirements for each specification include a summary table outlining the main characteristics of the
proposed specification and provide a listing of bid items, subsidiary items, and units of measurement,
followed by a list of specification requirements. This report also summarizes a methodology to develop
utility adjustment cost estimates during the early stages of the project development process and a procedure
for estimating the uncertainty and likelihood of exceedance of those estimates. The need for that
methodology became apparent after realizing the limitations of traditional approaches that simply estimate
utility adjustment costs as percentages of the highway construction costs without providing a measure of
uncertainty for those estimates.

17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement
Utility Accommodation, Utility Relocation, Utility No restrictions. This document is available to the
Adjustment, Utility Reimbursement, Unit Costs, public through NTIS:
Standard Specifications, Communication, National Technical Information Service
Communication Utilities, Cost Estimate Springfield, Virginia 22161
http://www.ntis.gov

19. Security Classif.(of this report) 20. Security Classif.(of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price
Unclassified Unclassified 208
Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized

SPECIFICATION FRAMEWORK FOR COMMUNICATION UTILITIES
AND ESTIMATION OF UTILITY ADJUSTMENT COSTS
by

Cesar Quiroga, P.E.
Research Engineer
Texas Transportation Institute

David Ford, P.E.
Associate Professor, Zachry Department of Civil Engineering
Texas A&M University

Timothy Taylor, P.E.
Graduate Research Assistant
Texas Transportation Institute

Stanley Kranc, P.E.
Professor Emeritus, Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of South Florida

Edgar Kraus, P.E.
Assistant Research Engineer
Texas Transportation Institute

and

Eun Sug Park
Associate Research Scientist
Texas Transportation Institute

Report 0-4998-3
Project 0-4998
Project Title: Standardization of Special Provisions and Determination of Unit Costs
for Utility Installations

Performed in cooperation with the
Texas Department of Transportation
and the Federal Highway Administration

October 2007
Published: December 2007

TEXAS TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE
The Texas A&M University System
College Station, Texas 77843-3135

DISCLAIMER
The contents of this document reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts
and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official
view or policies of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) or the Texas Department of
Transportation (TxDOT). This document does not constitute a standard, specification, or
regulation, nor is it intended for construction, bidding, or permit purposes. The engineer in
charge of the project was Cesar Quiroga, P.E. (Texas Registration #84274).

The United States Government and the State of Texas do not endorse products or manufacturers.
Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the
object of this report.

v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was conducted in cooperation with TxDOT and FHWA. The researchers would
like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance provided by TxDOT officials, in particular the
following:

• Jeff Masek, Houston District (project director);
• John Campbell, Right of Way Division (program coordinator);
• Peggy Chandler, Design Division;
• Gary Ray, formerly at the Houston District;
• Jesse Cooper, Right of Way Division;
• Tom Yarbrough, Research and Technology Implementation Office; and
• Sylvia Medina, Research and Technology Implementation Office.

vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF FIGURES.......................................................................................................................ix
LIST OF TABLES.........................................................................................................................xi
LIST OF ACRONYMS, ABBREVIATIONS, AND TERMS.....................................................xii
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................1
CHAPTER 2. COMMUNICATION UTILITY SPECIFICATIONS............................................3
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3
SPECIAL SPECIFICATION SAMPLE.....................................................................................3
Special Specification Style Issues...........................................................................................8
Special Specification Content, Measurement, and Payment Issues......................................10
TXDOT STANDARD SPECIFICATIONS.............................................................................14
PROPOSED SPECIFICATION FRAMEWORK....................................................................16
SPECIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.....................................................................................29
Excavation and Backfill for Structures.................................................................................32
Select Backfill for Structures................................................................................................36
Trench Excavation Protection...............................................................................................38
Open-Trench Conduit Structures..........................................................................................39
Aboveground Conduit Structures.........................................................................................46
Trenchless Pipes, Conduit Structures, and Box Culverts.....................................................51
Open-Trench Pipe and Conduit Structure Encasement........................................................61
Communication Cable..........................................................................................................65
Removing and Relocating Conduit Structures......................................................................72
Adjusting, or Removing and Relocating Communication Cable..........................................75
Manholes and Inlets..............................................................................................................78
Ground Boxes.......................................................................................................................80
Cable Vaults..........................................................................................................................84
Communication Buildings and Cabinets..............................................................................88
Pole Assemblies....................................................................................................................93
Removing and Relocating Ground Boxes...........................................................................101
Removing and Relocating Cable Vaults.............................................................................103
Removing and Relocating Communication Buildings and Cabinets..................................106
Adjusting, or Removing and Relocating Pole Assemblies.................................................109
Removing Structures...........................................................................................................112
Abandoning Structures........................................................................................................114
Temporary Utility Adjustments..........................................................................................117
CHAPTER 3. IMPACT OF UTILITY ADJUSTMENT COSTS ON HIGHWAY
CONSTRUCTION COST ESTIMATION.................................................................................119
INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................119
LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................................................120
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SAMPLE DATA ASSEMBLY..............................................................................................126
ANALYSIS OF THE SAMPLE DATA.................................................................................129
General Observations..........................................................................................................129
Statistical Analysis..............................................................................................................138
CHAPTER 4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.............................................159
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS..................................................................................................159
Communication Infrastructure Construction Specifications...............................................159
Utility Adjustment Cost Estimation....................................................................................162
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION..........................................................163
Utility Installation Construction Specifications..................................................................163
Utility Adjustment Cost Estimation....................................................................................166
Other Recommendations.....................................................................................................168
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................171
APPENDIX. PROCEDURE TO DEVELOP THE SAMPLE DATASET................................177

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LIST OF FIGURES
Page

Figure 1. Lighting and Signal-Related Standard Specifications—Year 2004 Specifications.....14
Figure 2. Proposed Water Installation Specification Framework ( 6, 7)......................................17
Figure 3. Proposed Sanitary Sewer Specification Framework ( 6, 7)...........................................18
Figure 4. Proposed Drainage-Related Specification Framework ( 6, 7).......................................19
Figure 5. Prototype Communication Utility Specification Framework.......................................20
Figure 6. Current Project Development Process at TxDOT (adapted from [2 9])......................119
Figure 7. Total Utility Cost versus Non-Utility Highway Cost – 476 Records.........................133
Figure 8. Total Utility Cost versus Non-Utility Highway Cost for Project Type “BR”
(Bridge Replacement) – 36 Records.....................................................................................134
Figure 9. Total Utility Cost versus Non-Utility Highway Cost for Project Type “CNF”
(Convert Non-Freeway to Freeway) – 20 Records...............................................................134
Figure 10. Total Utility Cost versus Non-Utility Highway Cost for Project Type “INC”
(Interchange) – 28 Records...................................................................................................135
Figure 11. Total Utility Cost versus Non-Utility Highway Cost for Project Type “MSC”
(Miscellaneous Construction) – 62 Records.........................................................................135
Figure 12. Total Utility Cost versus Non-Utility Highway Cost for Project Types “NNF”
(New Location Non-Freeway) and “NLF” (New Location Freeway) – 32 Records............136
Figure 13. Total Utility Cost versus Non-Utility Highway Cost for Project Type “RER”
(Rehabilitate Existing Road) – 60 Records...........................................................................136
Figure 14. Total Utility Cost versus Non-Utility Highway Cost for Project Type “WF”
(Widen Freeway) – 60 Records............................................................................................137
Figure 15. Total Utility Cost versus Non-Utility Highway Cost for Project Type “WNF”
(Widen Non-Freeway) – 132 Records..................................................................................137
Figure 16. Total Utility Cost to Non-Utility Highway Cost Ratio – 476 Records....................141
Figure 17. Proportion of Projects Exceeding Utility Cost to Non-Utility Highway Cost
Ratio – 476 Records..............................................................................................................144
Figure 18. Proportion of Projects Exceeding Utility Cost to Non-Utility Highway Cost
Ratio for Project Type “BR” (Bridge Replacement) – 36 Records......................................145
Figure 19. Proportion of Projects Exceeding Utility Cost to Non-Utility Highway Cost
Ratio for Project Type “CNF” (Convert Non-Freeway to Freeway) – 20 Records..............146
Figure 20. Proportion of Projects Exceeding Utility Cost to Non-Utility Highway Cost
Ratio for Project Type “INC” (Interchange) – 28 Records...................................................147
Figure 21. Proportion of Projects Exceeding Utility Cost to Non-Utility Highway Cost
Ratio for Project Type “MSC” (Miscellaneous Construction) – 62 Records.......................148
Figure 22. Proportion of Projects Exceeding Utility Cost to Non-Utility Highway Cost
Ratio for Project Types “NNF” (New Location Non-Freeway) and “NLF” (New
Location Freeway) – 32 Records..........................................................................................149
Figure 23. Proportion of Projects Exceeding Utility Cost to Non-Utility Highway Cost
Ratio for Project Type “RER” (Rehabilitate Existing Road) – 60 Records.........................150
Figure 24. Proportion of Projects Exceeding Utility Cost to Non-Utility Highway Cost
Ratio for Project Type “WF” (Widen Freeway) – 60 Records.............................................151
ix
Figure 25. Proportion of Projects Exceeding Utility Cost to Non-Utility Highway Cost
Ratio for Project Type “WNF” (Widen Non-Freeway) – 132 Records................................152
Figure 26. General Progression of Procedures to Estimate Utility Adjustment Costs
(Summary View)...................................................................................................................158
Figure 27. Query to Obtain Winning Bid Unit Cost Data.........................................................177
Figure 28. Query to Obtain Total Highway Construction Costs...............................................178
Figure 29. Highlighting Utility-Related Special Specifications................................................179
Figure 30. Query to Produce a Listing of Utility-Related Special Specifications and their
Corresponding Construction Unit Items...............................................................................180
Figure 31. Query to Obtain Unit Cost Data for Utility-Related Special Specifications............181
Figure 32. Query to Obtain Total Utility Costs in Highway Construction Projects..................182
Figure 33. Query to Obtain Relevant Data from the ROW Division’s Utility Agreement
Database................................................................................................................................183
Figure 34. First Query to Compare Utility Adjustment Costs and Highway Costs...................184
Figure 35. Second Query to Compare Utility Adjustment Costs and Highway Costs..............186
Figure 36. Query to Express Costs in 2006 Dollars...................................................................187

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