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By Keith Burton – GCN Filed 12/15/05 Since practically the first day after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the Highway 90 bridges on either side of Harrison County, MDOT’s Southern District Commissioner Wayne Brown has been saying that his agency plans to use the Design-Build method to expedite the rebuilding of these two critically needed bridges. But it may do the exact opposite. State law regarding the Design-Build method may throw a huge monkey wrench into MDOT’s plans, and create a problem that could delay construction of at least one of the bridges. If Brown and MDOT proceed to used the Design-Build method and issue the contracts within the same year, they will be breaking the law. The Biloxi-Oceans Springs and the Bay St. Louis bridges were severely damaged by the hurricane and for over three months, the wreckage from the bridge's roadway remain where Katrina put them. No work has been done and despite the fact that the state has millions of dollars in highway construction money for work in other areas of the state, it has chosen not to redirect any of that money to rebuild the Coast's roads. The design-build method assigns both design (engineering) and construction responsibilities to one firm, allowing some construction work to begin before the design is completed. Supporters say this can reduce MDOT’s administration and inspection costs and all contractors to move quickly. But at this point in time, few people have actually seen any concept drawings or preliminary engineering plans for the bridges. A point of criticism already for MDOT by Ocean Springs officials who are opposed to MDOT’s current bridge plan for the Biloxi-Ocean Springs bridge. Brown has said that the Biloxi proposal calls for a six-lane bridge with four breakdown lanes and a pedestrian and bicycle-friendly pathway. This would be a 128-foot wide structure. Ocean Springs officials say such a bridge is too large, too expensive and would hurt its city. The Bay St. Louis bridge is proposed to still be a
four lane bridge, as the previous version, and built on the existing
right-of-way. In both cases, the costs for the two projects will exceed several hundred million dollars, money that Wayne Brown says his agency doesn’t have at this time. He and many others claim they are waiting on the U.S. Congress to approve additional Katrina relief funds, which is expected to include money for highway and bridge repairs. Brown’s decision to use the Design-Build method on these bridges is a first for the state. Such a method of construction has only been recently approved and MDOT has no experience administering construction under the Design-Build method. There are reasons for this. While Design-Build is used in private construction projects, companies are careful to monitor their expenses, engineering and construction to be sure they are getting what they are paying for. But for a public agency, that has access to billions of dollars in tax money, there are opportunities within the Design-Build method where fraud can occur due to a lack of oversight by an independent engineer. So when the legislature approved the Design-Build method for use in 2004, they restricted MDOT’s use of the Design-Build method to only two projects a year if the projects were not more than $10-million, and to ONE project if the work exceeds $50-million. In addition, the law requires any Design-Build project to be monitored by the state auditor’s office. The Biloxi-Ocean Springs bridge proposed by MDOT would cost in excess of $200-million. That is the law. And at this time, no one has said
how MDOT is going to get around this and MDOT officials have not said
anything about the restriction in the law. Both bridges are critically
needed for the Coast to rebuild. And if MDOT is to follow the law
regarding Design-Build, only one will get started. Which one will it be? Biloxi officials have hitched their credibility to MDOT's plan for the Biloxi-Ocean Springs bridge. The City Council and Mayor A.J. Holloway went on record this week endorsing Brown's bridge, even over appeals from Ocean Springs Mayor Connie Moran. Officials made their endorsement after being told about the Design-Build restrictions from Biloxi resident Royce Hignight. Hignight is a retired FBI agent who has been involved with road and transportation issues for over ten years. Hignight's career was spent investigating local Mississippi government corruption. Hignight's statements were left out of the major media reports on the City Council's meeting held Tuesday in Biloxi. GCN has called MDOT for comments on the Design-Build law. At the time of this report, MDOT has not yet responded. GCN will update this story as information is received. Additional Information: The Design-Build legislation was added in 2004 to Section 65-1-85, Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended (Method of awarding contracts). There were some differences in the Senate and House versions. The legislation was sent to a Senate/House conference committee consisting of three senators, including: Senator Billy Hewes, R-Harrison County; Stacey E. Pickering, R-Jones County; and Merle Flowers, R- Desoto County; Representatives: Hank Zuber, R Jackson County; Greg Ward D-Benton, Tippa, Union Counties; William Miles D- Itawamba, Monroe Counties, for reconciliation. This committee reconciled the Senate and House Bills. The legislation was sent to the Governor and he signed it on 5/13/04. The Design Build legislation is as follows: Par (11)(a) of the legislation states, “As an alternative to the method of awarding contracts as otherwise provided in this section, the commission may use the Design-build method of contracting for the following: (i) Projects for the Mississippi Development Authority pursuant to agreements between both governmental entities: (ii) Any project with an estimated cost of not more than Ten Million Dollars ($10,000,000.00), not to exceed two (2) projects per fiscal year; and (iii)Any project with an estimated cost of more than Fifty Million Dollars ($50,000,000.00), not to exceed one (1) project per fiscal year. (b) As used in this subsection, the term “design-build) method of contracting means a contract that combines the design and construction phases of a project into a single contract and the contractor is required to satisfactorily perform, at a minimum, both the design and construction of the project. (c) The commission shall establish detailed criteria for the selection of the successful design-build contractor in each request for design-build proposals. The evaluation of the selection committee is a public record and shall be maintained for a minimum of ten (10) years after project completion. (d) The commission shall maintain detailed records on projects separate an apart from its regular record keeping. The commission shall file a report to the Legislature evaluating the design-build method of contracting by comparing it to the low-bid method of contracting. At a minimum, the report must include: (i) The management goals and objectives for the design-build system of management; (ii) A complete description of the components of the design-build system, including a description of the system the department put into place on all projects managed under the system to insure that it has the complete information on highway segment costs and to insure proper analysis of any proposal the commission receives from a highway contractor; (iii) The accountability systems the Transportation Department established to monitor any design-build project’s compliance with specific goals and objectives for the project; (iv) The outcome of any project or any interim report on an ongoing project let under a design-build management system showing compliance with the goals, objectives, policies and procedures the department set for the project; and (v) The method used by the department to select projects to be let under the design-build system of management and all other systems, policies and procedures that the department considered as necessary components to a design-build management system. (vi)All contracts let under the provisions of this subsection shall be subjects to oversight and review by the State Auditor. The State Auditor shall file a report with the Legislature on or before January 1 of each year detailing his findings with regard to any contract let or project performed in violation of the provisions of this subsection…. MDOT originally hoped to accept bids this week on projects to rebuild the Biloxi Bay and Bay of St. Louis bridges, but Wayne Brown claims that the process has been delayed pending the outcome of a congressional budget stalemate in Washington, which has held up funding. The design-build teams are to turn in technical proposals on Dec. 30, with price proposals due Jan. 9 and the contracts being awarded the next day. However, there are issues that may change those dates. Commissioner Brown has said that he doesn’t know how long it will take for the bridges to be open, but he estimates some limited use by late 2007. MDOT has selected a short list of builders for the two bridges. The list for the Biloxi-Ocean Springs bridge are:
1. Brian A. Peterson
2. F. Keith Jacobson
3. Brian C. Kaub The list potential builders selected for the Bay St. Louis bridge are:
1. Alvin S. Flettrich,
Jr., P.E.
2. F. Keith Jacobson
3. Brian C. Kaub
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MDOT's
Credibility:
