Step 2: Normative Requirements Pass (Discussion)

Section Content:

Facts:
County A was expecting a significant amount of rural roadway construction in the upcoming construction season.
County A did not have enough engineering staff to handle the design effort required for the expected workload.
Therefore, the County decided to advertise for consulting services to accomplish the needed design.
It had been a policy of the County to utilize local design services whenever possible in these cases.
Subsequently, the advertisement was published only locally.
All local engineering firms responded to the advertisement.
There was enough design work available that each of the local firms could receive one or more design projects.
One local engineering firm owner, Engineer B (an experienced water and wastewater engineer) was experiencing a downturn in committed work which would have affected the bottom line of the firm and could have resulted in layoffs of its staff.
While not experienced in rural roadway design, Engineer B gave assurances to the County that they could perform the services adequately.
They also lobbied the County Commission in their favor.
Engineer B received an award from the County for a single roadway design project.
Engineer B completed the design project, the County bid the project and then proceeded into construction.
The County, in this case, decided to utilize their own staff for construction period services.
During the construction phase, problems and issues began occurring immediately.
A significant number of field revisions were necessary and estimated quantities of work had been miscalculated, resulting in excessive time and effort for the County to resolve.
The County grew increasingly frustrated with the quality of work provided by Engineer B.
Through the efforts of the County staff, the project was able to remain within its budget.
During a meeting with the County as these problems occurred, Engineer B did admit that the problems encountered were outside the firm’s understanding of proper design.
If understood by Engineer B, the issues could have been avoided.