Project Management, Construction Management, & Project Controls Archives - Page 8 of 12

DAY CPM Creates Community Pride With Seaside School Project

Schools are places where face-to-face communication is essential to foster an environment where students feel safe and comfortable to ask questions and open up to learning. With this atmosphere, there is little wonder that those who work in school districts also support and expect more personal relationships and direct contacts. For this reason, DAY CPM has thrived as the owners’ representative for a spate of recent school projects, recognizing that successful relationships build successful projects.

This was certainly the case for DAY CPM’s work with Seaside School District in Seaside, Oregon. The community supported a $99M bond for the project but had not supported a bond since the 1970s, so ensuring the community’s wishes were heard and met was paramount to success. DAY CPM brought extensive experience of working with schools and bonds to the table making them a perfect choice for the job. “It was important for us to help folks out given the challenges of a school district that didn’t have construction or bond experience. This is the largest and most expensive project in Seaside. The community voted for it and we wanted them to be proud of it,” said Jim Henry, senior project manager. Jim was the liaison between the district, CMGC Hoffman Construction, the design team from BRIC Architects, and a host of city service providers.

Seaside School bond passed in order to move the schools above the tsunami zone for both student safety and to serve as a community safe haven. The existing middle and high schools were replaced with a single building to house both. Pacific Ridge elementary school was renovated and expanded, along with seismic upgrades, allowing it to become the combined home of Seaside Heights and Gearhart elementary schools. Weyerhaeuser provided an 80-acre parcel for the new high and middle school.

The new HS/MS is a modern building, in many ways similar to what’s found on college campuses with advanced technologies and amenities better suited for teaching and learning. A key point for the construction and design team was to ensure everyone would feel part of the school; signage is bilingual, flexible learning spaces serve as teaching spaces and as areas designated for students to congregate during breaks in the school day. The highlighted feature of the new HS/MS is a view of the coast which was factored into the design, so both classrooms and common spaces show off the coastal landscape.

As with any project, there were challenges. The increased size of the school necessitated the construction of a City of Seaside reservoir to compensate for increased water usage and fire protection. The architects and City designed a route for the water services to run through the construction site to the reservoir. The property needed for this had to be annexed into the City of Seaside’s Urban Growth Boundary and the wetlands on site had to be addressed. DAY CPM relied on its prior experience with wetlands mitigation to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Oregon Division of State Lands Cooperative to find a solution to replacing permitted wetlands losses and enhancing what remained.

Construction began in the spring of 2017 and is slated for completion in February 2021. During that time, the schools have become a source of pride. Seaside is a multi-generational community and most residents had attended the schools which date back to 1955. They understood the buildings had reached the end of their life span and needed to transition to the 21st century. What they will have going forward is not just modern schools and community focal point, but a sense of hope for upcoming generations.

Coffee Creek Correctional Facility

Prior to forming DAY CPM, Mike Day provided CM/GC and complete construction administration services for this 1,684-bed, medium security women’s prison in Wilsonville, Oregon. The 425,000 square foot facility also houses the State of Oregon’s DMV call center. Site development of nearly 116 acres required extensive road infrastructure improvements, utility upgrades and a new water treatment facility for the City of Wilsonville. The women’s prison includes state-of-the-art computer security and system controls, a medical treatment center, inmate rehabilitation facilities, and a full-service commercial kitchen.

Salem Police Department

In May of 2017, a $79 million bond was passed to build a new facility to house the Salem Police Department. Otak CPM provided owner’s Representation services during design and construction of the new Salem Police facility and its adjacent parking zones. The 104,000 SF facility is built to current seismic requirements and features three stories, public and secure staff parking, and street frontage improvements. The new facility houses multiple police agencies in one location, improving efficiency and service to the community and allowing the department to grow.

Trios Health Southridge Medical Center

The comprehensive oversight and management of all facets of this expansion project led to the renovation and addition to Trios Health’s Kennewick Public Health Campus. The campus incorporated a new greenfield 74-bed replacement hospital which included the development of a 40-acre site and includes 175,000 SF of acute care facilities.

Complete Program Management to Expand and Renovate a Public Health Campus

The center offers diagnostic imaging, a retail pharmacy, laboratory, physical therapy, a medical infusion center, and other ambulatory services. Office space for support services to the hospital was included along with a coffee shop and central registration area. The Otak owner’s representative team involvement covered site development, land use development, permit and plan review, medical equipment and IT technology integration oversight, and overall program management services. In addition to the hospital, the team continued providing services for the Trios Health Southridge Care Center (MOB) that is connected to the campus’s Southridge Hospital and commissioned primarily for outpatient services and medical staff offices. The structure features seven floors of physician practices, outpatient services including physical therapy, a pharmacy, advanced diagnostic imaging, and infusion therapy.

Lake Oswego Library

Originally built in the 1980’s, the Lake Oswego Library was in need of renovations. On average, 900 visitors walk through the doors of the library each day and with Otak owner’s representative support on this project, these renovations encouraged more circulation within an improved facility.

Managing Renovations for a More Sustainable and Efficient Community Building

In bringing an updated version of this City landmark to the community, updates would be made to the Library’s main floor, lobby and staff workroom. The building underwent upgrades to update the functionality and ease of use of facilities for patrons and staff. The team coordinated and managed the renovations to all three departments within the staff workroom, storage space and the repairs to the concrete floors throughout the building, delivering a more sustainable and efficient building to the Lake Oswego community.

Oregon State Police Headquarters

In centralizing their operations, the Oregon State Police (OSP) aimed to consolidate all three Salem facilities into a single location, the Trelstad site. The Main Building at 80,000 SF, 2-stories high houses the OSP, the State Fire Marshal, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. A 24,000 SF facility holds the fleet facility, procurement and IT; it is accompanied by a small warehouse that is primarily utilized by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Coordinating A Seamless Facilities Transition for First Responders

The Otak owner’s representative team’s duties included assuring all phases of the move out/in were coordinated and had little impact on agency operations. We coordinated all aspects of the various move components and the project activities with the contractor, developer, vendors, moving companies, utilities, DAS, and other agencies were scheduled and carried out in the most efficient manner. The extensive knowledge and experience our team brought to this project was essential to meeting the needs of these departments, so that they can serve the community to their fullest potential.

Northwest Specialty Clinic

Northwest Specialty Clinic, a privately owned and operated facility, is located at the north end of the RiverBend campus. The five-story medical office building houses a full-service ambulatory surgical center, imaging center, in-house labs and five floors of private specialty care offices. The facility is linked to the hospital and the RiverBend Pavilion medical office building via two overhead, fully conditioned sky bridges.

Otak CPM provided a full array of owner representative services including program administration and oversight, budget, schedule and construction management, land use and building permitting oversight, and medical equipment procurement coordination.

The Children’s Center

A new 16,000 square-foot facility was designed as the new home of the Children’s Center which had previously operated in multiple locations over a 7-year period. The Children’s Center serves the community by providing quality mental health services to children and families of Clark County at the new Marilyn Moyer Building.

Managing Efficient Completion of a New Facility for Mental Health

The center sees more than 800 children each month for treatment of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and trauma. A lot of thought and input from counselors went into making the new space feel therapeutic, from the choice of wall colors and art to all the windows that let in natural light. A therapy garden was added to the property that features plants, benches and a fountain in hopes of giving the children an area to feel comfortable in. The parents and clients have agreed that the building feels clean, open, bright, quiet, and a more conductive environment for counseling. Serving as owner’s representative, Otak provided coordination between the architect, owner, and contractor while managing budget and schedule development, as well as contract management.

Fort Vancouver Community Library

This 83,000 square foot facility focused on community, early learning, technology, adult learning, teens, green building design, inspiration, creativity, and contemplation. Mike Day provided strategic project management with contract administration, program management services, AE coordination, multi-agency communication and management for this library project. The library achieved Gold certification.

Otak Completes ODOT Project to Repair and Upgrade Bad Banks Culvert

Lying beneath fifty-feet of fill and one of Oregon’s major recreational highways, was an ailing 75-year old concrete culvert with a history of operation and maintenance problems. The culvert in question funnels the Bad Banks Creek underneath Oregon State Route 22 about four miles east of Gates, Oregon. Working with the Oregon Department of Transportation, Otak’s hydraulics engineering team led a design and construction project to repair damage to the 300 foot-long culvert, improve stream flow and provide safer access for ODOT inspection and maintenance crews and equipment.

The Bad Banks Creek culvert at HWY 22 was subject to abrasion from sediment flowing in the stream channel, which over time, had worn down the concrete culvert and exposed the rebar reinforcement. The culvert also presented various safety issues for ODOT inspection and maintenance crews as it was difficult to access either end of the culvert due to steep slopes and lack of space to operate. While extending the life of the culvert was a priority, the other significant part of the project was to improve access for long-term maintenance.

Otak was hired by ODOT in May of 2019 to provide design services for repairs to the culvert to extend its service life and to modify the culvert entrance to improve access for long-term operation and maintenance of the culvert. Otak was then hired to provide construction administration, engineering, and inspection services during construction, which began in June 2020.

Extending the life of the culvert made sense—the typical life-span of concrete reinforced culverts is 75-100 years and it would have been very expensive to replace. As Otak Project Manager and Principal Kevin Timmins, states, “if the culvert ever does get replaced it will likely be with a bridge.” Rather than a costly bridge project with major disruptions to traffic along HWY 22, ODOT was able to get money and permits to make repairs and modifications and chose to work with Otak on a design to prolong the life of the culvert while also addressing the safety and access issues.

To mitigate the effects of streamflow and sediment abrasion, the culvert was lined with six inches of new concrete. The upstream end of the culvert was also extended, a more gradual transition into the culvert was added for better streamflow, and debris fins were installed at the upstream end to catch large debris so it doesn’t enter the culvert. The modifications had the added benefit of allowing the maintenance access road to come further down. As Kevin explains, “previously the access road just stopped at a steep vertical drop off into the culvert. By extending the culvert we were able to bring the road down and across the top of the culvert to the other side where we were able to create a level area where ODOT will be able to park an excavator and reach upstream of the debris fins in the event they need to be able to clear debris in front of the culvert.”

Ten days before substantial completion in September of 2020, the Beechie Creek fire burned through the construction site, scorching the forest vegetation, melting the stream bypass system, and causing damage to a portion of the freshly poured concrete. Otak has been working with the ODOT to manage the response at this site, including project closeout and plans for additional site stabilization and concrete repairs to be constructed in 2021.

“One of the reasons we were excited to work on this project was the fact that we were already familiar with the site,” Kevin stated, “and that our water resource team has a lot of experience in working in streams. They understand the hydraulic conditions, how to manage streamflow during construction, how to accommodate construction access.” This project was an opportunity for Otak’s hydraulics team, who possess deep knowledge and capacity for hydraulic engineering, to work in tandem with Otak’s structural team. Additionally, Otak has experience working on projects in environmentally sensitive areas, and mitigating the environmental impact during construction was a priority and requirement of the state.

In the end, the culvert repairs have staved off a costly bridge replacement by extending the life of the culvert and ODOT inspection and maintenance staff now have better and safer access to the culvert.