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Building Equity into the
Design Process
Implementation
During the Implementation phase the engineer should ensure:
(1) Seeking Approval for Implementation
In order to be approved for implementation the engineering will need to complete, or have completed, the necessary inspections, permits, and certifications.
"Giant Construction Permit" by pasa47 is licensed under CC BY 2.0
(2) Measure and Monitor the Co-created Project Metrics of Success
Success in this item will entail the mitigation of environmental risks such as pollution (e.g. light, water, air, sound and vibration) and health hazards, due to the project, that might impact the community, or those that are served by the project, amongst other stakeholders. With that said, even the best steps taken to mitigate these risks need to be monitored and any failures in the plan need to be addressed. Some of the elements that you might end up monitoring are social and economic factors, so that you can understand the impacts to those factors due to the project.
"Testing for Methane" by NOAA's National Ocean Service is licensed under CC BY 2.0
(3) Schedule for Flexibility
A flexible schedule allows for the project to still meet its' completion deadline while allowing for unforeseen events to arise. This events might be a natural disaster, that might necessitate a design change, errors and omissions in the design documents, budget inaccuracies, funding issues, and even a delay or interruption in project implementation. It is for these reasons, and many others, that schedule flexibility is critical to meeting your deadlines.
"Marketing Plan/Timeline" by Jen Beever is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
(4) Fulfilling Contractional Obligations
Lastly, during this phase you will be in charge of fulfilling contractural obligations. One of these responsibilities involves making payments for services that are completed in accordance to the contract. Additionally, for other aspects of the project, and potentially on other contracts, you will need to provided timely and periodic progress reporting on the status of the contract completeness.
Back to Hoo City
PIEDMONT ENGINEERING SERVICES
Soon after the Notice to Proceed was given, the construction of the new infrastructure began. Being one of the largest transportation projects in recent memory, there was a formal “breaking ground” ceremony with who’s who of Hoo City present.
The construction was broken down into phases in order to mitigate disruption of nearby communities. Due to the traffic re-routing and detours that will need to take place during different phases of the construction, SDOT made sure to spread the word well in advance. This allowed constituents to plan their commutes during the temporary disruption. One way SDOT got the word out was by having information on display in public buses describing any modifications of routes.
Efforts to were also taken to mitigate impacts to the communities during the duration of the construction phase. Excess noise was address by the installation of sound damping materials around on-site power generators and other heavy equipment. Periodic checks were also performed in, and around, the construction zone to ensure that the sound, light, and vibration levels did not exceed healthy levels. Pollution impact, such as air and water, was also monitored at the work site in accordance with the pre-agreed upon environmental protocol. Work times were also set through discussions with the specific communities impacted, to ensure that as little disruption as possible was experienced in the neighborhoods.
"Road Construction Sign" by Indiana Public Media is licensed underCC BY-NC 2.0
With “Breaking Ground”, the first step is site preparation. Fences and proper signage (detailing company contact information, personal protection equipment (PPE) necessary for entering site, and directions to site visitors) are erected in the construction zones as a safety precaution and to stop unauthorized people from entering the site. Site preparation also involves preparing erosion control, clearing the land of trees and debris, leveling the ground for the road, and moving materials to and from the site. Now with the prep work complete and site for phase 1 staged, the big machinery starts rolling in to complete the paving for the roadway construction.
You should be partaking in a collaborative process to ensure people know about the future road closures through the services they already use. Examples of steps you might take:
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Using digital road signs to communicate to travels on their daily commute.
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Flyers on mass transit stops or vehicles.
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Social media communications.
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Public broadcasting through radio or television.
How would inform the community about the road closures?
I would recommend >>
You have many responsibilities on this job that include supervising jobsite safety and environmental compliance. You also serving as the acting liaison between the company and the surrounding communities. Piedmont Engineering Services relies primarily on their project superintendent and project engineers to keep the project on schedule by supervising the subcontractors, scheduling the delivery of materials, staging the work sites, setting up the proper inspections as the project progresses, and routing communication through the various stakeholders (e.g. SDOT, subcontractors, inspectors, consultants, and constituents).
You should be seeking make people feel seen and understood, because their work, opinions and safety (mental and physical). Examples of steps you might take on the job site:
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Ensure all communications, by default, are available to the languages the folks on the job-site prefer.
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Have an inclusive workplace that ensures those onsite get the support before they need to ask for it. To do so you will likely need to collaboratively examine how you can remove hierarchy so as to instill a system of personal autonomy - in essence a community.
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During times of change it will be critical to advocate for each other, especially those in positions that currently are viewed as having the least authority and power.
How would you define and promote social justice for the workers on the job-site?
I would recommend >>
"Morning construction meeting" by thedailyenglishshow is licensed under CC BY 2.0
You regularly attend the morning meeting hosted by the Project Engineer. Although the meetings are always very informative, your favorite aspect is the camaraderie among people on the job and the warm coffee provided. The daily morning meetings, with representatives from the on-site crews, involve a jobsite safety topic and project updates. Because the work on a jobsite is time sensitive and dependent on each subcontractor staying on top of their work, tension between the “management” and the subcontractors is often present. These morning meetings give each representative a chance to voice any updates, ideas, or concerns they may have.
These meetings might seem very standard practice in the construction industry, but Piedmont Engineering Services has their staff go through extensive trainings (e.g. courses on unconscious bias, microaggressions, respect, and leadership). The trainings educate the staff on how to best communicate information and make space to include all voices. They are taught by experts and organized by Piedmont Engineering Services’ Office on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI).
You quickly notice how these meetings are more effective and inclusive from ones you have attended in the past on other jobs.
Some of these differences include:
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Typically morning meetings are attended only by the GC management and the appointed “supervisors” from the different subcontractors on the project.In contrast, Piedmont Engineering Services requests that each subcontractor bring an additional rotating member, of their crew, to each meeting. This lends itself to more ideas and perspectives being shared
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Every meeting starts with the Project Engineer asking if English is a second language for anyone in the room. This allows the speaker to gauge the pace in which they speak, the jargon they choose to use, the amount of body language they rely on to express their thoughts, and add clarifications throughout the meeting. The meeting room also has assistive technologies available for people who benefit from other forms of communication. Due to the large number of Spanish-speaking members of the crews, Piedmont Engineering Services was also able to have one of their Project Engineers who is Spanish-speaking visit the job-site at least three times a week to lessen language barriers. She sometimes will run the meetings, switching between English and Spanish flawlessly.
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The Project Engineer always does a circle check-in to make sure everybody has the opportunity to share something at the meeting, whether work-related or personal. Not only did you find that you knew most of the names of the workers on the job-site by the end of the project, you also learned more about the people you worked with.
You learned in the meeting that the construction is slightly behind schedule, due to unforeseen site conditions, but remains on target for meeting the desired completion date. This is due to the flexibility built into the schedule. So, while your recommendation of the submission of the next progress payments will need to be changed in your progress report the project is still on track.
After months of construction, the permanent pavement markings on the last segment of the road are now complete. SDOT orders ride quality testing. Testers use seismology equipment to measure vibrations of the new pavement. The tests are successful. You are part of the team that is monitoring drainage along the route to make sure it is working as designed. With the grading complete around the highway, the last of the landscaping around the pavement has been completed.
The construction is finally done! With the completion of the project and successful inspection the project is formally accepted by the SDOT. At this point the final payment is made.
It's time to remove the fences and allow the motorists to use the new infrastructure. Another stretch of State highway is ready to serve communities and businesses for years to come. You are excited to have been invited official commissioning celebration of the project. Here, in addition to the basic ribbon cutting ceremony, the City collaborated with the community to put on a block party to celebrate the completion of the new highway.
Not quite!
Although the construction is over, there are still two crucial steps left in the design process:
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The operation of the infrastructure and it's underlying technology
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The evaluation of the performance of the design.
So, is this the end of the design
process?
Let's find out! >>