QT has provided materials testing services to the consultant CA team on Water Services projects including: 91st Ave WWTP; Lake Pleasant Waterline; 23rd Ave WWTP Influent Line Upgrade; Broadway Rd Sewer Replacement Phases, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2CSS, and 2D; I-17 & Sweetwater Waterline; and SW Zone 1 Transmission Main.
Materials Laboratory Testing Oriented Contracts: Over the past fifteen years, QT has successfully performed quality control testing, acceptance testing or materials coordination services on several hundred ADOT projects. In 2001 QT was selected by ADOT for an On-Call Materials Acceptance Testing contract and in 2002 ADOT selected them for an Asphalt Concrete Referee Testing contract. Since those initial selections, QT has been reselected by ADOT for each of these contracts at every possible opportunity. As evidenced by the initial selections on these materials oriented ADOT On-Call contracts, and then by the multiple repeat selections that followed, QT has clearly earned the confidence of the ADOT Materials Group, the Districts and the Construction Section.
Full Service Construction Administration Contracts: While QT frequently provides Field Technicians, Laboratory Technicians and Materials Coordinators to fulfill testing and materials information management needs, QT’s services extend far beyond materials testing. QT routinely serves on ADOT projects in the traditional construction administration roles that include Resident Engineer, Chief Inspector, Lead Inspector, Materials Coordinator, Civil Inspector, Structures Inspector, Hot Plant Inspector, Electrical Inspector, Construction Office Manager/Support, and Materials Testing Technician. QT’s ADOT construction administration type work has come through multiple subconsultant agreements on ADOT Statewide On-Call Construction Administration contracts [(30) projects] and on ADOT Project Specific Full Service Construction Administration contracts [(12) twelve projects].
The City of Phoenix initially selected QT for their 2003 On-Call Soils and Materials Testing Contract, has extended our contract at each opportunity, and has subsequently re-selected QT for new On-Call contracts in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2015. Over the many years since our initial selection, QT has provided field and laboratory construction materials acceptance testing on nearly 200 separate City of Phoenix Streets and Water Services projects. While most assignments have involved field work only, QT has also intermittently provided lab personnel to work directly in the City of Phoenix Streets Department lab and to provide inspection at commercial asphalt concrete production hot plants. During our tenure on City of Phoenix On-Call contracts, in 2009/2010, QT was also selected for the City’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Materials Testing Contract and served successfully on numerous key assignments involving federal funds.
QT was part of the engineering consultant team that was selected in 2013 by the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority for a multi-year On-call Construction Administration Services contract. The scope of the overall consultant contract is to provide the full spectrum of construction contract administration services on the 30 or more PMGA projects that are expected to be constructed between 2014 and 2018. QT’s role on this team is to provide materials assessment planning, and to conduct the field and laboratory acceptance testing to the extent necessary for assuring that materials compliance is achieved and documented. QT also provided these same services to PMGA between 2007 and 2009 through a similar contract. Individual PMGA projects on which QT has provided materials testing related services are as follows:
| 2007 through 2009 On-Call Contract | ||
| • Taxiway B Construction | • Terminal Parking Lot 30 | • North Apron Storm Drain & Fireline Extension |
| • Taxiway G Extension | • Hanger 31 Site, Grading & Utilities | • South Sossaman Rd, Parking Lots 1 & 2 |
| • North GA Drainage Improvements | • Airfield Perimeter Road | • NW Perimeter Road & Fence |
| • Taxiway Bravo (Kilo to Lima) | • North Sossaman Parking | • South Sossaman Parking Additions (601/602) |
| 2013 On-Call Contract (to date) | ||
| • Taxiway V Reconstruction (pictured above) | • Runway 30L Threshold Reconstruction | |
| • Detention Basin (Mid) – Phase 1 | • Runway 12R & Taxiway G Reconstruction |
The first 19 miles of the METRO Light Rail system in the greater Phoenix Metropolitan area consisted of 5 main geographically defined construction segment contracts, coordinated with nearly a dozen other concurrent corridor-wide contracts that each handled the construction or installation of specialty items and features such as maintenance facilities, special track work, power systems, communication systems, station finishes, parking facilities, the Town Lake Bridge, and overall systems integration. All of these projects were substantially complete by 2009 and the initial light rail system was placed into service at that time.
The next major METRO project to reach construction was the Central Mesa Light Rail Extension which began in mid-2012. This 3-mile long project utilizes the design-build project delivery method and has a construction value on the order of $100 million. Quality Testing, LLC (QT) was a key member of the design-build team that was selected, in part due to qualifications, by the Valley Metro organization. QT initially worked with the prime contractor’s Quality Manager to develop and define an implementable Quality Control (QC) inspection and testing program, provided most of the QC inspection services necessary during early utility relocation work, and is currently providing the majority of the QC materials testing services. Due to our consistent efforts to assure that materials representation is being achieved through sampling and testing, and with our commitment to superior materials testing documentation, QT’s services have earned us an excellent reputation with our client’s quality management personnel and with the METRO oversight personnel.
QT joined up with the Pulice/Granite Joint Venture (PGJV) construction contracting team on ADOT’s $100 million Design-Build project that constructed HOV lanes on the L202 (Santan) Freeway between Gilbert Rd and the I-10 Freeway in Chandler, Arizona. In general, this 10 mile long project involved significant quantities of excavation and controlled fill placement; drainage feature and utility relocations; several new retaining walls; asphalt and concrete pavement sections; new concrete median barrier, roadway lighting, signing, and striping. In addition, this project included 5 new major bridge structures to connect the new L202 HOV lanes to both the existing L101 and I-10 freeways.
As is typical for alternate delivery projects of this size and scope, the ADOT contract requirements mandated that the design-build team develop and utilize a formalized Construction Quality Control Plan. QT initially worked closely with PGJV to develop this plan, worked through the review and revision process with ADOT, and ultimately implemented a plan that encouraged teamwork between QT inspection and testing personnel, PGJV production personnel, and ADOT oversight personnel. Drawing heavily from existing ADOT inspection tools and documentation standards, our plan for maximizing quality and minimizing non-compliance and potential re-work situations was well received by ADOT.
UPDATE: The L202 (Santan) project ended in 2012. Due to our success on that project, QT again teamed up with the Pulice/Granite Joint Venture to win a second $100 million Design-Build freeway project, the L202 (Red Mountain) Freeway between L101 and University Dr in Mesa, Arizona. On this high profile alternative delivery project that began in fall of 2014, QT is once again implementing our proven Quality Control Program and providing all inspection, testing, and related documentation.
Northern Parkway, Phase I, was a $42 million conventional bid-build project constructed between February 2012 to October 2013 by the Maricopa County Department of Transportation (MCDOT). This initial portion of the Northern Parkway runs east/west from Sarival Avenue, just east of ADOT 303L, to Dysart Road, and is located immediately north of Luke Air Force Base and Northern Avenue. The project consisted of 4 miles of new alignment roadway construction; grade separations at Sarival Avenue and BNSF Railroad; and at grade connections at Reems Road and Litchfield Road. The work activities involved major structures and MSE walls; high volume roadway excavation, embankment with settlement requirements, special subgrade preparation, and paving; drainage and irrigation channels; and roadway lighting, signing and traffic signaling. This complicated project required significant coordination effort between the project administration team, the contractor, MCDOT, the cities of Glendale and El Mirage, BNSF Railroad, the Maricopa Water District (MWD), the Flood Control District of Maricopa County (FCDMC) as well as the surrounding farms.
Quality Testing, LLC (QT) was a part of the Construction Management team led by Tristar. Robert Clifford, a key member of QT’s management team, provided construction management over the Northern Parkway project activities associated with the earthwork, paving, drainage and MSE wall construction for the BNSF overpass structure. QT staff was also responsible for the materials management duties such as tracking all material test data, assessing materials compliance, maintaining a certification log, and to a large extent, provided the database tools and expertise for managing other project data including submittals, transmittals, change orders, and quantity tracking for pay estimates.