|
CITY OF VANCOUVER ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT |
Date: |
October 21, 2004 | |
Author: |
Merv Robertson | |
Phone No.: |
7321 | |
RTS No.: |
04593 | |
CC File No.: |
5752-3 | |
Meeting Date: |
November 16, 2004 |
TO: |
Vancouver City Council |
FROM: |
General Manager of Engineering Services |
SUBJECT: |
City's Participation in the Canada/British Columbia Infrastructure Program and Consultant Appointment for the Burrard Bridge Seismic Upgrading Project |
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT, subject to the conditions set out in Recommendations D, E and F, Council authorize the City to participate in the Canada/British Columbia Infrastructure Program by entering into an Agreement with the Province whereby Federal and Provincial funding of up to $2 million will be provided for the Burrard Bridge Seismic Upgrade project.
B. THAT, in addition to the Canada/British Columbia Infrastructure Program funding, Council approve the allocation of $2.5 million as the City's share of the project, source of funding to be the $20 million of borrowing authority approved through the 2003 - 2005 Capital Plan plebiscite to provide the City share of cost shared projects.
C. THAT, subject to the conditions set out in Recommendations D, E and F, Council authorize the General Manager of Engineering Services to engage the firm of Buckland & Taylor Ltd. for the contract administration, design finalization and inspection during construction of the Burrard Bridge Seismic upgrading at the estimated cost of $120,000, subject to a contract satisfactory to the Director of Legal Services.
D. THAT the Director of Legal Services be authorized to execute and deliver on behalf of the City all legal documents required to implement Recommendations A and C.
E. THAT all such legal documents be on terms and conditions satisfactory to the General Manager of Engineering Services and the Director of Legal Services.
F. THAT no legal rights or obligations will be created by Council's adoption of Recommendation A, C, D and E above unless and until such legal documents are executed and delivered by the Director of Legal Services.
CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The City Manager supports the above recommendations.
COUNCIL POLICY
In 1985, Council endorsed the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) initiatives to take steps to halt the significant decline in the condition of infrastructure in urban areas, placing emphasis on maintenance and reconstruction as opposed to new construction, in partnership with senior governments.
In 1997, Council endorsed extending the 1993 Canada Infrastructure Works Program, reiterated that there should be municipal representation on the Management Committee and noted that the only priority should be for projects that replace existing, deteriorating municipal infrastructure.
The appointment of consultants whose fees will exceed $30,000 must be authorized by City Council.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to seek Council approval to enter into an agreement with the Province for the City's participation in the Canada/B.C. Infrastructure Program for the Burrard Bridge seismic upgrading project and for approval for a formal allocation of funds for the City's share of the program costs. It is also to obtain Council approval to engage the firm of Buckland & Taylor Ltd. to review and finalize the detailed design for the seismic upgrading, which they performed in 1995, and to perform the contract administration and inspection of the construction. The work that would be undertaken as part of this project would be independent of any improvements to the bridge deck to better accommodate pedestrians and cyclists.
BACKGROUND
The Canada/B.C. Infrastructure Program (CBCIP) provides funding for Green and Other Local Government infrastructure projects. The Other Local Government Projects classification includes cultural and recreational infrastructure, infrastructure supporting tourism, rural and remote telecommunications, high-speed Internet access for local public institutions, local transportation infrastructure, and affordable housing. For Other Local Government Projects, the Provincial and Federal governments will each fund one third (1/3) of a project's costs, up to $1 million each (up to $2 million in total funding).
Council has previously endorsed a prioritized list of Green and Other Local Government Infrastructure Projects for submission to the Canada/B.C. Infrastructure Program, and authorized staff to submit applications to the Provincial Government. The Burrard Bridge Seismic Upgrading project was included in those endorsed projects, and an application was made to the program. The Burrard seismic upgrading project is currently our second-highest ranked unfunded project in the "Other" category.
In April of 2004, Council reaffirmed support for the project and approved "in principle" the allocation of $2.5 Million of the $4.5 Million estimated cost for the project with the provision that upon confirmation of Federal and Provincial funding, staff report back to Council seeking a formal allocation of funds to cover the City's share of the project.
The City has been informed that the application for the Burrard Bridge seismic upgrading project has been approved under the Canada/B.C. Infrastructure Program and will be administered by the Minister of Small Business and Economic Development.
In regards to the engineering services for the project, the engineering firm of Buckland and Taylor Ltd. performed the original seismic study for the City's oldest bridges, namely the Granville Bridge, First Avenue Viaduct and the Burrard Bridge in 1989. Due to the firm's technical qualifications and history with the bridges, they were also engaged for phase one of the seismic upgrading including detailed design and inspection during construction.
For the phase two design work, proposals were requested from three consultants including Buckland & Taylor Ltd. However, it was only Buckland and Taylor who submitted a proposal. The other two consultants declined for reasons of non-availability of suitable technical staff. However, concerns about defining the legal liabilities may also have been a factor. This becomes difficult where one consultant has done the preliminary analysis and design for a project and then another consultant is engaged to perform the detailed design and prepare construction drawings based on the first consultant's preliminary work. It was ultimately decide to engage Buckland & Taylor Ltd. to perform the Phase two work. In light of the above, a proposal for the Phase three seismic work was requested only from Buckland & Taylor.
Phase three of the seismic upgrading consisted of upgrading the concrete approach spans of the Granville and Burrard Bridges and a detailed design, drawings and concrete documents were prepared for both bridges. However, only the Granville Bridge was upgraded due to insufficient funds for both bridges. As Buckland & Taylor Ltd. has already provided the detailed design, drawings and tender specifications for the Burrard seismic upgrading, a proposal to update the documents and perform the inspection during construction has again been requested only from Buckland & Taylor Ltd.
DISCUSSION
Phases one and two of the City of Vancouver's Bridge Seismic Upgrade Program have been completed with upgrades to the First Avenue Viaduct, the Granville Bridge, and the central portion and north approach of the Burrard Bridge. All that remains to complete this program are six support bents on the south approach of the Burrard Bridge. This work would greatly reduce the impact of a major earthquake on Vancouver from a safety, transportation, tourist and economic point of view. Not only does the Burrard Bridge provide a critical crossing immediately after a seismic event, it is required for business continuity during the recovery period afterwards and it is an irreplaceable historic landmark.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The estimated cost for the Burrard Bridge Seismic Upgrade project is $4.5 million. The Canada/B.C. Infrastructure program will fund $2 million of the cost of the project. The City's share of funding for the project would then be $2.5 million.
Included in the above amount and based on the man-hours and fees proposed by Buckland & Taylor Ltd., the engineering services for the review and updating of the seismic design and drawings and for the inspection during construction is estimated to be $120,000.
This project did not have a funding allocation in the 2003 - 2005 Capital Plan, however, as it is cost-shared with the Infrastructure, it is eligible to access the $20 million approved through the Capital Plan plebiscite for cost shared projects. This borrowing authority was approved by the voters for the City's share of projects receiving senior government cost sharing.
With this allocation, Council will have committed $8.6 million and allocated $6.6 million from the $20 million of cost shared project borrowing authority, as follows:
Funding Committed |
Funding Allocated | |
Millennium Sport Facility |
(1,100,000) |
(1,100,000) |
Urban Transportation Showcase |
(2,000,000) |
(2,000,000) |
Sunset Comm Centre |
(3,000,000) |
(1,000,000) |
Burrard Bridge Seismic Upgrading |
(2,500,000) |
(2,500,000) |
Total Funding |
(8,600,000) |
(6,600,000) |
In addition, Council has indicated support for a number of projects totaling approximately $5.6 million that could access this funding, leaving $5.8 million for other projects.
CONCLUSION
The Burrard Bridge Seismic Upgrading Project has been approved for a grant under the Canada/B.C. Infrastructure Program. The Program was developed to encourage Cities to maintain and protect aging infrastructure at an appropriate level to reduce future costs.
The City will contribute $2.5 million and receive an additional $2 million in funding from the Federal and Provincial Governments for the project. Funding for the City's share will be from the $20 million approved for this type of senior government cost shared project.
Buckland & Taylor Ltd. has provided an acceptable proposal for the engineering services for this project.
This work is independent of work being considered which would improve the pedestrian and cyclist environment.
* * * * *
