Overview

This section covers traffic signaled interchange construction, as well as street lighting. Besides basic construction knowledge, the inspector should be familiar with the following:
Wiring, traffic control equipment, pedestrian ADA requirements, temporary traffic control and full knowledge of existing utilities in the vicinity. If partial funding is from the state, then special provisions could be in place, such as "Buy America" steel provided for the project. If in doubt, check with the construction project manager.

Review:
Review Contract Documents – Prior to beginning this phase of work, the Inspector must become familiar with the plans and specifications. This includes but is not limited to Sections 520, 700, 800, 2800, 2900, and all addendums. The plans must be reviewed so the inspector is familiar with the location and scope of work required. Quantities should be verified to ensure there is consistency between the plans and bid tabs. The Measurement & Payment Section of Division 1, General Requirements, shall be reviewed to determine how the item is to be paid and what work is included in the pay item. The Specifications, Codes and Standards Section of Division 1, General Requirements, shall be reviewed to determine what specifications govern the work. The Technical Specifications, Project Special Provisions and Addendums shall be reviewed to ensure the most current contract requirements are being followed.

Contract Documents

Contact Material Testing Lab:
The project Inspector shall notify the on call Material Testing Lab that work shall be commencing. Coordinating specific tests required for Quality Assurance is the responsibility of the project Inspector. This will likely include soils compaction for trenching operations and concrete testing for controller bases, pull box pads, sidewalks, and concrete pole bases to name a few.

Submittals

Review Submittals and Certifications:
Below is an example of a list of possible submittals and certifications. Check the contract documents for which items are required. Ensure that all items that are on the contract checklist have approved submittals and check that the contractor is utilizing those materials.

Description Submittal Type Who Reviews Date Submitted Date Approved
SIGNALS
Cable Catalog Cuts
Concrete Mix Designs
Conduit (Pipe & Fittings) Catalog Cuts
Conduit Markers Catalog Cuts
Emergency Vehicle Detection System Catalog Cuts
Fiber Optic Interconnect Cable Catalog Cuts
Fiber Distribution Unit Catalog Cuts
Fiber Optic Data Link Switch Catalog Cuts

Field Observations

Daily Observations:
Observe the contractors construction methods – Below are a few of the items that need to be checked during the construction process.

• Ensure that the proper materials are being used.
• Read the specifications in the contract documents. Become familiar with them and the plans to ensure compliance.
• Prior to beginning any work on site the pre-construction documentation needs to be done. Typically this includes, at a minimum, a pre-construction video to be done. Refer to Section 1130 of the contract documents.
• Ensure that all traffic control is in compliance with the plans, specifications, and MUTCD. Are there tweaks that need to be made? Do they have the proper signs, are they up during use, are they down at night and on weekends?
• Be sure all contractors and subcontractors that work on the site have Lee’s Summit business licenses and all subcontractors are listed in the contract. They cannot be allowed to do work if they do not have the business license. If they are not listed in the contract then the City’s Purchasing department needs to be notified so they can add them. Purchasing will then update the Department of Labor as to who is working on the site.
• Prior to beginning any underground work, be sure the contractor has all of the utilities located. Do not let them begin if all locates are not completed.
• If the conduit is bored, be sure to watch for rocks or other underground items that hump up the surface of the ground. This is especially important under pavement. Additionally, limit how much boring gel or water is used while boring under pavements. It could have undesirable effects on the future of the pavement.
• If the conduit is plowed in, be sure that it is at proper depth and the marking tape is being installed. Proper depth can be checked by watching the plow or, if done relatively quickly, can be checked with a t-probe. Sometimes rocks can hump up the surface, be sure the contractor takes care of these areas.
• If trenching is the method of installation, be sure that it is at proper depth and the marking tape is being installed. When the trench is backfilled be sure that adequate effort is given to compaction and that the moisture is near optimum. Most likely driving down the trench line will not meet the necessary requirements. Remember conduits have to be bored under existing pavements unless the City Engineer approves it.
• During installation ensure that the conduit and wire are not allowed to kink. The conduit ends need to be protected immediately after installation to prevent moisture and debris from entering the conduit.
• Once the power supply location has been determined, contact Planning and Development to acquire the address for the controller.
• The Contractor will need the address for the power supply cabinet and a billing account number, which the Construction Project Manager should have. Remember to have the contractor leave the ground rod connection exposed for the Codes inspection.
• Check the contract requirements to see if the City pays for the power immediately or if the contractor is to pay for the power until final completion. If the City is to pay, contact Traffic Engineer to get a billing number to give to the power company. Once the inspector has the number and the Codes Department has passed the inspection, the power company is contacted to connect the power to the controller. This can take a good amount of time so be sure the contractor begins on setting the controller locations early on in the project. It is the contractor’s responsibility to ensure that utility company connects the power within the contract timeframe.
•Quality Control (QC) and Quality Assurance (QA) testing frequency and requirements should be listed in the specifications. Ensure that these requirements are being met.
• When QA testing is done, be sure to have identical materials being tested so that the QA and QC results can be compared. They should compare within the allowable tolerances given in the ASTM. If they do not agree and one is within specification and one is not then the test is deemed to have failed unless an argument can be made showing absolutely that the failing test was done incorrectly.
• There are a number of items that also need to be checked. Please use the checklist of other items to help the inspector in the field.

Documentation

Daily Diary & Material Records:

• Document work in Field Book – Daily diaries need to include the following items:

Personnel:
A list is required of all contractors and subcontractors on the site with how many personnel each have and their occupational titles. If possible, provide the names of the individuals. This is especially important for non-union contractors that utilize their personnel in many different ways. One way to place who is on a project is to have a list at the front or back of the diary with each contractor and a list of their personnel that works on this particular project site. By each person’s name a number could be placed. Then in the daily diary it is relatively easy to mark who was on the project by just placing the number associated with their name. With union personnel, their title can be placed by their name in the list, so the information would not have to be duplicated.

Equipment:
It may be desirable or required to document what equipment is being used. It is desirable if it is not the correct equipment for the job or they do not have enough equipment to do the job properly. It is required for any force account work, since the equipment can be charged at an hourly rate, in which case the amount of time would also be documented.

Progress:
Even on days not worked this needs to be entered with a reason as to why. It could be as simple as “No work – weekend”. Otherwise, some entry would follow stating what work took place during the day. Ideally it would be broken up per contractor/subcontractor.

Problems:
Any problems encountered should be listed. Hopefully solutions could be placed with them. If solutions are not available at the time of entry then state what is being done to solve the problem and a possible timeframe with it.

Visitors:
If visitors enter the work zone attempt to get their name and state their business and any discussion points of a conversation.

Weather:
A brief description of the weather should be shown each day. Be general you don’t have to be a meteorologist. If it rained/snowed all day, just in the morning, or started in the afternoon, state that. Give an approximate temperature range for the day as well. If it was windy and maybe caused some problems, state that.

Sign/Initial:
At the end sign or initial. This shows who wrote the information and ends the entry so if anymore is added to it at the end by someone else, that portion is obviously theirs.

Pay items:
Ideally, get with the contractor when items need to be field measured so an agreement can be made immediately on the measured items. This eliminates the need to re-measure anything. Update all pay items that were installed during the day. The section includes the date the item was installed, the total for the date, the total to date, inspectors initials, and a comments section. Fill out all necessary columns.

Payment Applications:
Most likely the contractor will request payment monthly. Since the field book is up-to-date as stated above, the total to date at any given time can be given to the project manager or contractor when requested.
If other items are needed from the contractor to meet the contract documents those need to be addressed. Some of these items could include the following:
• Wage board installed.
• Payrolls up-to-date.
• Erosion control inspection forms to be up-to-date.
• Erosion control items in place.
• Traffic control deficiencies addressed.
• Public safety items addressed.
• Any other items that are problematic may be addressed again at this time.
Once these items are completed, contact the Construction Project Manager so the Pay Application can be completed.

Miscellaneous Items:
The fewer the splices, the better the system. No splicing of signal cable allowed. Splices are only allowed in the street lighting system in junction boxes and in street light pole bases for the pole connection. No other splices are allowed.
• Pay particular attention to wire types and size. For one example type “THHN” is not the same as “USE”. Some contractors do not pay close enough attention to that type of information.
• Update the Construction Project Manager on construction progress periodically, anytime that major items are being conducted, or upon request.
• Pictures are also a good form of documentation. Pictures are often times a good documentation of temporarily visible underground conditions. They are also helpful when explaining a problem to someone else.
• Maintain the project records well enough that As-Built drawings can be accurately made upon completion of the project. This would include any items that have moved from their original planned location or any new items. Upon project completion give the necessary information to the Construction Project Manager as soon as possible so the drawings can be updated in a reasonable amount of time.

• Shortly after the project completion, turn over all project related materials to the Construction Project Manager for permanent storage.
• Traffic Engineer provides signal timings.