HomeMy WebLinkAboutPrivate Consultants for Development of Basic Engineering DatTO:
ATTN:
FROM:
DATE:
LM
MAR 14 1978
City of Huntington BeachF SUNTINGTON BEACH
TRATIVE OFFICE
P.O. BOX 190 CALIFORNIA 92648
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT o`�lyGl� \
Honorable Mayor and City Councils $
Floyd G. Belsito, City Administrator-,
H. E. Hartge, Director of Pub.l.c Wor
March 13, 1978
SUBJECT: Private Engineering Consulting Service
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM;
Recently Administration requested the Public Works Dept., to submit a
large quantity of basic engineering data necessary to the preparation
of the "Community Facilities Element of the City's General Plan, which_
in turn would be used to develop an effective five year Capital Improvep-
ment Program.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Authorize the Purchasing Officer to obtain proposals from qualified en-
gineering consultants for the development of basic engineering data in-
volving sanitary sewers, storm drains and traffic flow with -in the City.
ANALYSIS:
The requested data is basic and fundamental to the operation and needs
of a municipal engineering office. if it were not for the extraordinary yt-
growth of this City these past years, this data would certainly have been
developed by this time.
By basic and fundamental data we mean a complete and accurate atlas of
both the sanitary sewer system and the storm drain system within the City
limits. These atlases would consist of perhaps 60 pages of 2Q0 scale
maps of the City's street system. On these maps would be plotted the
entire sanitary sewer or storm drain systems of the City, both existing
and planned. The pipe size, capacity, and direction of flow would be
indicated along with the location of all manholes. Accompanying the atlas
would be a thorough analysis of the City's sanitary sewer system and storm
drain system including a listing of those areas presently deficient and
those likely to become deficient under present zoning. An estimated cost
to rectify the deficiencies along with.a priority of the deficiencies
would be included. This would then become basic engineering data with.
reference to sanitary sewer and storm drains in the City.
In the case of traffic, it is necessary to develop a Traffic Computer Model
of our arterial street system. The existing land use and zoning would be
used to determine anticipated traffic generation and flow patterns. The
results of this traffic study would enable the traffic engineers to pre-
determine problem areas and to give almost instant response to questions
of street capacity for vehicular traffic.. This Traffic Computer Model
analysis would then become the basic engineering data required within our
traffic engineering division.
The information developed in the above studies would not only form a
foundation of data for the engineering dept. per se but would be extremely
valuable in our daily dealings with. developers and in the design of our
own projects. �/\
Honorable Mayor and City Council
March 13, 1978
Page 2
ALTERNATIVES:
We have considered the use of interns under appropriate supervision to
develop the basic data referred to above. There are, however, many
problems associated with the use of interns. Accuracy of work is
perhaps the most critical. If the data is not accurate it is worthless.
It would not be practical to check all of the intern's work. Super-
vision too is a problem. Every hour of supervision is an hour away
from productive design of ongoing projects, many of which are funded
with "outside" money and must be accomplished on a pre -determined
schedule. Time is of importance. It might take as long as two years
to develop the data referred to above through the use of interns. A
consultant would accomplish the work within six months. Finally, the
problem of furniture and space. The interns should have drafting tables
and they should be near their supervising engineer. Assuming four .
interns, this would create a serious space problem within the existing
engineering office.
FUNDING SOURCE:
The estimated cost for the intern program is $50,000; however, this
would not include the required traffic study analysis. The estimated
cost for the consultant program is $100,000. The $100,000 required to
develop the basic data for both sanitary sewers and storm drains would
be obtained from the sanitary sewer fund and from the drainage district
fund. The estimated $40,000 for the Traffic Computer Model would be
obtained from Gas Tax funds.
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