Fifth Ward School Bid Package #1 and #2 are Public
What are the implications of Tree Law?
I own a business in a construction-adjacent industry (corrosion mitigation) so I’m going to be following the construction pretty closely, if for no reason other than my own interest.
Anyway, District 65 / Cordogan-Clark has listed the first phase of the construction on the Cordogan-Clark portal. I created an account on there:
You can download the documents below:
Project Manual & Specs - This has the proposal info,
Drawings and Misc Info - This has all the high resolution architectural drawings
The spec document describes the following work:
Bid Package #1: Site Clearing / Demolition / Enabling Work
Scope of Work: Cutting and removing various structures and materials, implementing erosion control, and setting up temporary access roads and fencing.
Bids Due: June 27, 2024
Start Date: July 19, 2024
Completion Date: September 18, 2024
Bid Package #2: Deep Foundations
Scope of Work: Enhancing soil stability and removing unsuitable soil according to structural and geo-technical guidelines.
Bids Due: June 27, 2024
Start Date: August 19, 2024
Completion Date: September 18, 2024
It looks like they may have added an additional bid package to account for the soil issues. Both #1 and #2 have a targeted completion of September 18th.
Unsuitable Soil and Tree Law
I tried to dig around a bit to see what was the specific issue with the soil but it’s not listed in this document and instead is in “Exhibit C: Revised Report of Subsurface Exploration and Geotechnical Engineering Services” - so I’m going to have to FOIA that because I’m genuinely curious about the soil. One random interest of mine is that the State of Illinois’ fascinating borehole database and this is right in my wheelhouse.
Worth noting is that there is some cost control on change orders, so that’s good:
Any change order proposal submitted to the Architect for an increase to the contract sum shall be limited to a maximum of 5% of the cost of the additional materials and labor for the general conditions and profit of the Contract. This includes any increase to the Performance Bond and Labor and Material Payment Bonds.
I’m now curious about the June 1 implementation of Evanston Tree Law and how it impacts this project’s timelines. There do appear to be a fair number of trees along the perimeter of the project which are now subject to Tree Law mitigation requirements, permitting, and a visit from the city Arborist.
Having done a cursory review of the information you presented and have a couple comments. First, has the Construction Manager presented a detailed estimate for the bid packages represented here? This will be needed if the Board is to evaluate any of the bids received to make sure the bids are within the overall budget for this new school. It would also be important to know what the Construction Manager's assessment of risk for change orders are for this work and the portion of the Owner's construction contingency allocated to this work. Unsuitable soil conditions can represent water saturated soil; glacial till; buried trees; high organics in the soils; and most often in an urban setting buried house foundations and debris from years past where structures have been demolished, all having different degrees of cost associated with these unknown changed conditions.
Are the following bid packages required to complete the work scheduled, most important being structural concrete and building structure?