Delivering Durable Transportation Assets with CEI

CEI is a helpful service to verify that trans­porta­tion designs are trans­formed into lasting re­sources that trav­el­ers and in­fra­struc­ture owners alike can rely on. Whether trans­porta­tion agencies are in need of ad­min­is­tra­tive back-up or con­struc­tion man­age­ment support, CEI services verify that roadway, bridge and other mobility projects are con­structed ac­cord­ing to design spec­i­fi­ca­tions and on schedule and budget. Dan Cogan shares how CEI adds value through­out the life­cy­cle of a project.

What benefits will trans­porta­tion agencies get from hiring a CEI team?

Having a CEI con­sul­tant on board reduces the client’s day-to-day con­struc­tion man­age­ment re­spon­si­bil­i­ties. We can verify that the work being done is in ac­cor­dance with all stan­dards and reg­u­la­tions required. CEI provides a level of comfort for clients that con­trac­tors and sub­con­trac­tors are de­liv­er­ing quality con­sis­tent with the price being paid.

Since taxes col­lected from citizens con­tribute to trans­porta­tion in­fra­struc­ture im­prove­ments, CEI also provides an “in­sur­ance policy” to agencies, allowing them to con­fi­dently com­mu­ni­cate to the com­mu­nity that their funds are being used to produce quality results that will pos­i­tively impact their daily travel.

If an agency is on a tight budget, should it pri­or­i­tize CEI?

Based on the client’s needs, we provide scalable and cus­tomiz­able CEI services in pri­or­i­tized areas of focus. Whether they need extra support in one area or multiple areas, we provide that support.

Some­times clients don’t have the avail­able budget to tap into the full array of what CEI offers. When a client doesn’t have the monetary re­sources, they can still choose those CEI services that best support their project. For instance, if a client is building a marquee or complex bridge, they might choose to bring in a CEI team to provide ad­di­tional con­struc­tion man­age­ment over­sight, to provide support to their own field inspection staff. CEI consultants become an ex­ten­sion of staff, strength­en­ing re­sources in areas the client has pri­or­i­tized.

We can be as involved as the client needs us to be, pro­vid­ing anything from a full team to oversee all project aspects to ad­min­is­tra­tion or man­age­ment staff to oversee internal op­er­a­tions. We can even simply provide con­sult­ing or advice as needed.

How does CEI help move projects forward?

CEI teams that provide con­struc­tion man­age­ment help guide projects through­out their life­cy­cle, over­see­ing project ac­tiv­i­ties to verify plans are built as close to the intended design as possible. Staying on course with plans is im­por­tant; however, it’s normal to en­counter change orders on any roadway or trans­porta­tion in­fra­struc­ture project. With a CEI con­sul­tant, con­trol­ling the unknown and re­spond­ing ef­fec­tively to changing con­di­tions becomes easier, and the client knows they are still re­ceiv­ing a quality end-product.

Con­structabil­ity reviews help identify po­ten­tial issues. Before plans go to bid, we look for op­por­tu­ni­ties to reduce schedule, optimize design and phase work in a way that will help to lower bid costs. For clients, such as toll agencies, relying on revenues from the job, reducing the time­frame for con­struc­tion is a top priority.

For fed­er­ally funded projects, CEI con­sul­tants help obtain com­pli­ance with any en­vi­ron­men­tal or per­mit­ting re­quire­ments. This way the client knows the design is con­structed in com­pli­ance with all stan­dards and they will continue to receive funding. Having a con­sul­tant on board is a big relief for projects relying heavily or wholly on this type of funding.

What, ul­ti­mately, is the return on in­vest­ment for using CEI services?

We verify that the project is con­structed to the design stan­dards orig­i­nally set and also con­fir­m qual­ity ma­te­ri­als are used to meet all of the owner’s require­ments. High-quality ma­te­ri­als typ­i­cally lead to fewer main­te­nance issues and full func­tion­al­ity for the intended life of the design. CEI services are avail­able after con­struc­tion is com­pleted, too. Clients can have a warranty period to follow-up on any issues or concerns that arise.

It’s easier and more cost-efficient to make alterations to the design before construc­tion is com­pleted. Im­ple­ment­ing a change to the design during con­struc­tion might only cost a fraction of the amount it would take to repair or replace a finished product. A change order may cost you $20,000 during con­struc­tion, but re­solv­ing an issue could cost $2 million down the line if not ad­dressed im­me­di­ately.

Dan Cogan is a technical delivery manager of 80 CEI staff, as well as a senior civil engineer. He has nearly 30 years of industry experience, is a licensed pro­fes­sional engineer in eight states and is also is certified as a Associate Value Specialist by the Society of American Value Engineers.