Discussions

It is strange that all this construction and closures happen at the same time. I realize that construction season is short in Manitoba. Right now if you want to go South to North you have:  
 
9th street, 13th street, 26th street, 34th street as well as Richmond.  
 
This puts all the traffic onto 18th street (and somewhat 1st) You have to plan carefully if you want to get somewhere and allow double the normal time.  
 
It just would be nice if one or two projects could be finished before more main road closures occur.

I appreciate all the upgrades that are being done to our streets and infrastructure and I realize that probably in many cases, the city is at the mercy of the contractors as to when the work is carried out, however...it seems that the majority of it didn't start until August and now we have all the above mentioned streets partially closed at the same time. Yes, it presently takes longer to get from point A to point B and pre-planning your route could save some frustrations but I wish just one construction season they could space projects out just a little bit more and do some in May, June and/or July. Just my opinion...

In Many cities construction work goes on around the clock so they don't disrupt traffic to much. This might be a good idea

Very poor planning by city of Brandon. First, where was the construction 1st part of summer or even later spring? Everything seems to be dug up second half of summer..  
 
Then those streets that are going to be resurfaced, do they plan on fixing the broken and non existent curbs?  
 
This is what money in Brandon should be spent on. Do it right the first time. So you don't have to fix it later. But yet they spend money on a stupid 8th st bridge, that doesn't benefit 98% of Brandon.

it be that this is the only time the contractor (paving company) could allocate a block of time to accomplish all of this? So they start at one end and go until they are done. Which would put the drivers at a slight inconvenience but save the tax payers that piss and moan every chance they get!  
I'm not saying this is the case, but a company I used to work for would schedule 2 jobs (sometimes more) back to back because it would save them on the 2 jobs roughly 4hrs of travel time for each piece of equipment for a 2-4hr job. So factor in $130/hr for my piece of equipment I ran that would save them $520.00 per job and there was roughly 10 of us ranging from that $130 - $250/hr ($5200 if all equipment was $130/hr). That rate doesn't include permits, extra workers and supervisor rates. So the city waits till Bobs Paving Emporium can do all the streets listed the city just saved the tax payers an additional $26,000.00 (only using my figures from a previous job).  
Yes it's a pain, try riding a motorbike in the city right now....but the couple weeks of frustration makes cheaper taxes at the end of the year (maybe).

Seen as much confusion as we have this year trying to get across the city. Yes yes yes we are grateful for the streets finally be done, but cmon, some have been shut down for months

This seems to happen every year but quite honestly, it should change. The city awards a certain paving company in Brandon the contract to resurface a section. This outfit strips off the old stuff and waits until about the last possible moment in the Fall to resurface everything they ripped up over a month ago. One would think there must be more then one paving outfit in Brandon. Maybe I am making too much sense.

More paving contractors in the province. The work goes to tender every year. If the other companies bid lower they would get the work.

You should start paying a little more attention then. Because in most cases I have seen one company milling the streets and another company paving the streets when they are cleaned up. I would expect with two large companies only having 7 months a year to do road repairs all over the province that they probably have more then one job on the go. I have worked in that area of construction before. And some of you have absolutely no idea the work that goes into road repair. But seeing as there is so many experts here maybe one of you would start up a new company. If you can be successful there is an absolute ton of money to be made.

It was originally stated that there is limited time in our climate to get the work done. It was not said that the workers were not working hard or fast enough. The point of the thread was not that there were two or three roads being worked on at once, only that the cities main arteries are all closed at the same time.

I don’t know if they do this. It would be great if one person oversaw all road planning and scheduling and took in consideration time factors, affects on businesses and home owners etc.  
 
Thus this person would be responsible to keep things moving and on schedule.  
 
Just a thought.

Exhausted said "I don’t know if they do this. It would be great if one person oversaw all road planning and scheduling and took in consideration time factors, affects on businesses and home owners etc.     Thus this person would be responsible to keep things moving and on schedule.     Just a thought. "

or whomever is the head at Public Works? there has to be someone who over sees this. Our street was dug up 3 weeks ago and we are still waiting to be paved.

ifish said "In Many cities construction work goes on around the clock so they don't disrupt traffic to much. This might be a good idea "

Noise pollution is bad enough in the day. At night even the beeper on a truck backing up would drive me nuts.

Pawprints said "Only curious as to why the city decided to rip up the streets by school zones (26th Street/Richmond Ave) so late? It's a high traffic area with parents and busses dropping kids off. Not good planning.     I'd like to add that as I was travelling north on 26th by Linden Lanes, people figured as soon as they got past the lights, they could speed up. BCP could really score some tickets if they put radar out in that area. "

School zones get no favors. Mainly because many of these projects are not big enough to handle not just the staff but the equipment needed to do it. Multi days with multi type of equipment doing what looks a one day job. Some seasons back I found one reason it is hurry up and wait. At that time there was only one full time paver to be shared between all construction sites. Sounds weird but they are pricy. The same issue with the smaller machine. My guess everyone that is ready to go is waiting for good weather.

Maybe the city or the contractor could of at least put up warning signs about the upcoming 3 inch drop or jump up?  
Drive down 9th street at night and you dont see any of this. You even can hit two sewer bowls that stick up 3 inches.  
Wonder ifcity should be paying for the vehicle damage being caused by these UNMARKED dangers?

On Wednesday I pasted the construction site on 26th and it made me laugh. There was more flag people at the intersection of 26 and Park then there was workers. Four people holding signs stop or slow signs and only two people working in the site. They should maybe up that number in the site to get the job done this year.

cooper said "On Wednesday I pasted the construction site on 26th and it made me laugh. There was more flag people at the intersection of 26 and Park then there was workers. Four people holding signs stop or slow signs and only two people working in the site. They should maybe up that number in the site to get the job done this year. "

couldn't agree with you more. Theres another thread about 13th st finally be repaved, and the compliments on the job.  
 
WOW.. what a freaking gong show. That road should've been done within one day, not DAYS! and the city dropped the ball on redoing the curbs.  
I shake my head at every single job. 9th st south of richmond is another gong show.

Pawprints said "Only curious as to why the city decided to rip up the streets by school zones (26th Street/Richmond Ave) so late? It's a high traffic area with parents and busses dropping kids off. Not good planning.     I'd like to add that as I was travelling north on 26th by Linden Lanes, people figured as soon as they got past the lights, they could speed up. BCP could really score some tickets if they put radar out in that area. "

The BCP could also score on Richmond. I was yelled at yesterday because I was driving down Richmond in the construction zone so I was doing the 30KM and the person behind me was yelling out their window telling me to drive faster. I know everyone is happy that the construction is finally coming to an end but it is still a construction zone.

daisychain said "    Exhausted said "I don’t know if they do this. It would be great if one person oversaw all road planning and scheduling and took in consideration time factors, affects on businesses and home owners etc.     Thus this person would be responsible to keep things moving and on schedule.     Just a thought. " or whomever is the head at Public Works? there has to be someone who over sees this. Our street was dug up 3 weeks ago and we are still waiting to be paved. "

City planners only regulate zoning, and similar things. This would be handled by the engineering department. And I do believe the city has a person or team that handles this sort of thing. And I do believe that if work isn't completed within a timeline, the contractor suffers heavy penalties.

did you ever think there were that many flaggers on the road because there are vehicles coming from multiple directions?  
I guarantee if there were less flaggers and then there was more confusion someone would complain about that!  
 
Also, you can't see from one end of the job site to another in one quick glance when going through. There is no way to know exactly how many people are working at the site at one time.  
Especially with the amount of trucks coming in and out of there with material. How many loaders, excavators and large equipment that is required for the work do you think can even fit in there and still get a decent job done?!?!  
 
If you don't have experience in this field and if you are not involved in this job or any other road work job then you don't have proper knowledge of the happenings on the site and putting these people down for their planning and workmanship is completely unwarranted and ignorant!

FitNFab said "did you ever think there were that many flaggers on the road because there are vehicles coming from multiple directions?   I guarantee if there were less flaggers and then there was more confusion someone would complain about that!     Also, you can't see from one end of the job site to another in one quick glance when going through. There is no way to know exactly how many people are working at the site at one time.   Especially with the amount of trucks coming in and out of there with material. How many loaders, excavators and large equipment that is required for the work do you think can even fit in there and still get a decent job done?!?!     If you don't have experience in this field and if you are not involved in this job or any other road work job then you don't have proper knowledge of the happenings on the site and putting these people down for their planning and workmanship is completely unwarranted and ignorant! "

Thank you for the early morning laugh. I got no problem with 4 flag people. Maybe they need more people working on the job site. And yes I do have experience in the industry. Thanks again for the laugh.

I do not know what is happening on 9th street. Nothing all week until Friday and were done early afternoon. Peoples driveways have been torn up and not able to get in them for 3 weeks. Realize that workers are likely on other sites but all the machinery just sits there?? Just another example of starting a job tearing everything up and leaving it. I cannot remember things this bad in all the years I have lived in the city.

cooper said "    FitNFab said "did you ever think there were that many flaggers on the road because there are vehicles coming from multiple directions?   I guarantee if there were less flaggers and then there was more confusion someone would complain about that!     Also, you can't see from one end of the job site to another in one quick glance when going through. There is no way to know exactly how many people are working at the site at one time.   Especially with the amount of trucks coming in and out of there with material. How many loaders, excavators and large equipment that is required for the work do you think can even fit in there and still get a decent job done?!?!     If you don't have experience in this field and if you are not involved in this job or any other road work job then you don't have proper knowledge of the happenings on the site and putting these people down for their planning and workmanship is completely unwarranted and ignorant! " Thank you for the early morning laugh. I got no problem with 4 flag people. Maybe they need more people working on the job site. And yes I do have experience in the industry. Thanks again for the laugh. "

I am with you on this one Cooper. People just like to ASSUME that everyone is stupid and has no experience in the trade and then get called out on a public forum.

When the first street bridge will be paved. Left exposed the bridges concrete deck is exposed to salt. Never good for concrete.PCL has packed up and gone home with so much to finish. Where is the side walk on the West side from Rosser to the bridge? Why are all the curbs on the meridian between Rosser and the bridge unfinished.What about the meridian between Princess and Rosser? Oh and I am fully aware it falls under the department of highways.

Now with the weather change no one is working on 9th street, 26th street or Richmond. They are, however, now digging up Victoria Ave. Not sure how jobs are left with machinery sitting idle for many days at a time. Fear is that if the weather conditions do not improve will these areas never finish?

I know what you are saying Fitnfab but it is plain and simply taking too long! Who ever is at fault I don't know but it is not right!  
 
Edited by Donna666, 2018-09-26 12:49:24

Looks like they might be putting the last layer of pavement on Richmond right now. With any luck we’ll be back to two lanes each way if not tomorrow then the day after?

Synyster said "You should start paying a little more attention then. Because in most cases I have seen one company milling the streets and another company paving the streets when they are cleaned up. I would expect with two large companies only having 7 months a year to do road repairs all over the province that they probably have more then one job on the go. I have worked in that area of construction before. And some of you have absolutely no idea the work that goes into road repair. But seeing as there is so many experts here maybe one of you would start up a new company. If you can be successful there is an absolute ton of money to be made. "

many experts here is right! There is no point in commenting on topics such as this when posts concerning this topic are based on assumption, not fact and actual construction experience and expertise.

Oryx said "    Synyster said "You should start paying a little more attention then. Because in most cases I have seen one company milling the streets and another company paving the streets when they are cleaned up. I would expect with two large companies only having 7 months a year to do road repairs all over the province that they probably have more then one job on the go. I have worked in that area of construction before. And some of you have absolutely no idea the work that goes into road repair. But seeing as there is so many experts here maybe one of you would start up a new company. If you can be successful there is an absolute ton of money to be made. " many experts here is right! There is no point in commenting on topics such as this when posts concerning this topic are based on assumption, not fact and actual construction experience and expertise. "

Because anyone with ANY construction experience knows you stretch out a job until you absolutely have to have it finished (for example the weather gets to cold for the asphalt/concrete/etc). You've never been told to "Slow down, you trying to work us out of a job?" before?  
 
It's like the FIRST rule of construction work...especially when you DON'T have a lot of other big jobs, you keep the big project dragging along so everyones getting their hours and peel a couple off to go finish a small job and then bring em back to get their 40. On the really big jobs you drag em out so that you can justify tons of overtime at the end to get it done on time.  
 
Not saying that's what's been going on here in Brandon, just making the point that there is NO MONEY to be made in being the first one done. BIG Construction (like major projects like bridges/towers/etc) is walking that fine line between taking long enough and taking TOO long. I told my wife when all this started that none of these roads would be finished until it became obvious it was getting cold, then we'd suddenly see everything finished at once.

MrDobalina said "    Oryx said "    Synyster said "You should start paying a little more attention then. Because in most cases I have seen one company milling the streets and another company paving the streets when they are cleaned up. I would expect with two large companies only having 7 months a year to do road repairs all over the province that they probably have more then one job on the go. I have worked in that area of construction before. And some of you have absolutely no idea the work that goes into road repair. But seeing as there is so many experts here maybe one of you would start up a new company. If you can be successful there is an absolute ton of money to be made. " many experts here is right! There is no point in commenting on topics such as this when posts concerning this topic are based on assumption, not fact and actual construction experience and expertise. " Because anyone with ANY construction experience knows you stretch out a job until you absolutely have to have it finished (for example the weather gets to cold for the asphalt/concrete/etc). You've never been told to "Slow down, you trying to work us out of a job?" before?     It's like the FIRST rule of construction work...especially when you DON'T have a lot of other big jobs, you keep the big project dragging along so everyones getting their hours and peel a couple off to go finish a small job and then bring em back to get their 40. On the really big jobs you drag em out so that you can justify tons of overtime at the end to get it done on time.     Not saying that's what's been going on here in Brandon, just making the point that there is NO MONEY to be made in being the first one done. BIG Construction (like major projects like bridges/towers/etc) is walking that fine line between taking long enough and taking TOO long. I told my wife when all this started that none of these roads would be finished until it became obvious it was getting cold, then we'd suddenly see everything finished at once. "

am not entirely disagreeing with you but in most large contracts there are are liquidated damages applied if the contractor doesn''t meet substantial performance as outlined in the contract.  
 
This being said, I do feel that the COB contracts likely have this clause for large jobs such as this one and it is not a matter dragging them out so I do not know why you would say that.  
 
Oh and... if you look at the city's awarded tenders for roadwork you & review the tender packages you will clearly find the dates of completion for some of the projects people are discussing in this thread.  
 
Edited by Oryx, 2018-10-02 14:29:14