Track: Project Controls

Change orders are one of the greatest sources of margin fade that exist in construction today. The risk management focus required to minimize losses is paramount to financial success. Best practices to maximize margins will be the focus of this session. Defined will be the necessity of tracking change orders by level of risk, as well as a discussion of how to best identify, price, and negotiate change orders, while outlining the use of technology to track and manage productivity loss. Managing the process from proposal to collections in order to increase revenue and margins will be a focus, as participants discover the use of project logs to lead the change management process, and discuss proper pricing and proposal techniques to maximize returns on opportunities.

Stephane McShane, Director, Maxim Consulting Group

 

For 20 years, Christine Cashen has shared her expertise on conflict resolution, stress management, and cultivating a happier more productive workplace. She is the author of the award-winning books, THE GOOD STUFF: Quips & Tips on Life, Love, Work, and Happiness, and It’s YOUR Business: Good Stuff for Your Personal, Professional, and Funny Business. Audiences have related so much to her experiences, struggles, and lessons that listeners have wanted to take her back with them to the office.

 

Before establishing the Rosado Shaw Group, LLC. in 2004, Deborah Shaw started, grew, and sold a multimillion-dollar international merchandising company with customers, including Costco, Federated, Publix, Walmart, and The Walt Disney Company. Most recently, she was PepsiCo’s SVP, Chief Global Diversity & Engagement, serving 260,000 associates in 200 countries and territories.

 

Track: Project Controls

Mountain Tunnel is a 18.4 mile-long in-service water tunnel and a critical component of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission water system. Since the 1930s, the tunnel has exhibited defects within the concrete lining, ranging from concrete washout to large holes that expose rock. Rather than construct a new bypass tunnel, an intensive rehabilitation of the existing tunnel will be performed. The agencies involved were posed with the challenge of completing all work within a 60-day outage period. This presentation discusses the components leading to successful delivery of demonstration-type work. Attendees will learn safety and risk management strategies for use while working in existing facilities with multiple hazards, contract administration used to track and document construction during critical outages, and quality management tools for use in rehabilitation projects.

Kush Chohan, PE, Senior Project Engineer, McMillen Jacobs Associates
Jerry Malone, CCM, , San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Blake Rothfuss, PE, Vice President and Project Director, COWI North America

 

Every economy is driven by how groups of people respond to incentives and opportunities. At the same time, the economy in recent years has undergone tremendous changes in how people share and interpret information. Former Wall Street Journal columnist and analyst at The Motley Fool, Morgan Housel, will walk you through where the economy is heading and how industries can stand to thrive.

 

Track: Project Controls

Construction projects rely on partners sharing sensitive information and operations. In this day and age, this collaboration involves proprietary or sensitive data, occurs online often in shared spaces, and uses a variety of tools of the digital economy. Sharing data about your business, your staff, your supply chain, and your partners carries a variety of risks, not only on the business side, but also from a legal perspective. Speakers will discuss those legal risks in a regulatory context, as well as proactive protection steps, communicating with regulatory agencies, and the sharing of cautionary tales. Participants will learn the risks associated with regulatory enforcement of cybersecurity incidents, data privacy protections, and whistleblower protection laws, and then will explore techniques to establish controls to mitigate these risks.

Aloke Chakravarty, JD, Partner, Snell & Wilmer L.L.P.

 

Track: Teams & Collaboration

Four main entities are working in unison to deliver The Red Line Orange Line Improvement Program, an 8-year, $1.04 billion infrastructure program made up of 10 projects. The client, the construction/program manager, the designers of record, and the contractors, will be represented on the panel. Co-located in both field and office locations, this blended team is working together to achieve the 2025 targets set by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Currently halfway through the program life cycle, this presentation will focus on how the team was formed, setting of expectations, communications tools used, challenges faced both internally and externally, and how the team maintains, engages, and retains good people. Participants will be able to apply the tools presented to establish a one-team culture on their own projects.

Christer Bohman, CCM, Senior Project Manager, Mott MacDonald
Mike Fitzgerald, Program Manager, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Lorraine McAteer, Director of Administration, Mott MacDonald
Justin Planasch, PE, CCM, Director of Construction, Patrick Engineering, Inc.

 

Track: Project Controls

In order to replace water transmission and distribution mains, many utilities around the country have established proactive water main replacement programs. These programs focus on obtaining information from risk-based analysis and converting the information into proactive capital improvement projects. As utilities move forward, there are many pitfalls that can impact project design and construction. The City of Baltimore provides drinking water to more than 1.8 million consumers with water transmission and distribution systems consisting of 4,500 miles of pipes that are of varying sizes and up to 80 years old. Attendees will learn about challenges and solutions for programmatic replacement of water mains in an urban environment and hear case studies regarding permitting, constructability, and utility coordination efforts needed in design and construction phases.

Hernan Guadalupe, Project Engineer, City of Baltimore, Dept. of Public Works
Renato Nojadera, PE, Associate, Hazen and Sawyer, P.C.
Muhammad Tak, Associate, Hazen and Sawyer, P.C.