By William J. Angelo

	LITKE	MACNAB

Every project needs to be built on a solid foundation. That means cementing team relationships early to focus on the owner’s needs. Logically, foundation specialists should fit right in there, but old rivalries thwart this connection.

Dallas-based ADSC: The International Association of Foundation Drilling is reaching out to design-builders to encourage open communication with their deep-foundation and earth-retention system experts. ADSC feels strongly that early involvement of such specialty contractors in design-build teaming can pay enormous dividends. "The issue is saving time, money and taking advantage of the knowledge base of specialty contractors," says S. Scot Litke, ADSC executive director.

While the foundation component of a major project is miniscule compared to overall project costs, "the impact can be enormous in that dealing with subsurface and frequently unforeseen conditions can severely crimp schedule and budget and increase costs exponentially due to possible redesign, delay, change orders and claims," says Litke. "The solution is integrating foundation contractors early into the design process."

But Litke claims that early collaboration rarely occurs. The $1.6-billion Interstate 15 rebuilding project in Salt Lake City is an example, he says. Completed in 2002, the overall project was successfully finished on schedule, but several deep foundation challenges might better have been addressed if specialty contractors had provided input early in the design process, Litke says. On the other hand, the I-25/225 $1.7-billion road improvement and light-rail project still under way in Denver had early input, allowing the design team to make adjustments that facilitated accelerated completion of subsurface work, he explains.

Litke notes that the predesign stage is the ideal time for foundation considerations and input. However, design-build does not appear to allow or support that, in part, due to a natural rivalry between engineers and contractors. "We’re finding that engineers on design-build teams have a tendency not to use specialty subs even though most expertise resides with the contractors who drive design technology and innovation," says former ADSC President Alan F. Macnab, business development officer for Condon-Johnson & Associates, Oakland, Calif., a large geotechnical contractor. It has about $60 million in annual revenue, 15% to 30% of which are derived from design-build jobs.

As an example, Macnab notes that until the large-scale emergence of design-build, design-bid-build temporary shoring was not specified and usually awarded to a sub that designed and installed the work. Under design-build, teams want to do it in-house, he says. Macnab also claims some design-builders fear being held hostage to subcontractor pricing even though their innovation will cut costs and there is a tendency of some owners to insist on multiple bids from sub trades, which muddies relationships and limits subs’ participation in the growing design-build market. "We’re not just purveyors of labor," says Macnab. "We want to bring expertise to a job."

Constructibility is key. "We live by the [Karl] Terzaghi dictum that says, ‘Don’t design on paper what you have to wish into the ground,’" says Litke. "While a design relative to soil and structure may make sense on paper it may not be buildable."

Macnab says his firm worked for over a year prior to bidding with Granite Construction Co., Watsonville, Calif., to win the $300-million Reno Retrac job, which relocates a rail line into an underground corridor. "I feel strongly that we gave [Granite] the winning edge by giving them faster delivery of the four-mile long trench," he says.

When it comes to specialty contractor participation design-build is no different that design-bid-build, says Litke. "Unfortunately, the system doesn’t work as advertised," he says. "We should do a better job educating design-builders and they should start taking advantage of our expertise." For Macnab the issue is all about building winning relationships and bridging adversity. "Engineers need to work with us," he says. "But until you tell me I’m on your project team, I’m only going to give you my second- or third-best idea."