As of July 27 the MoPac Improvement Project is 70 percent complete, and both the contractor and Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority would like to open the first section in August. Delays have continued throughout the project, which will add one express toll lane in each direction on MoPac between Parmer Lane and Cesar Chavez Street. Contractor CH2M has accrued $20 million in liquidated damages as a result of the project being delayed. It originally was slated to open in fall 2015, but the two parties agreed on a new opening date in June for the northbound section between RM 2222 and Parmer. CH2M missed that date as well but expects to open that section in August. Jeff Dailey, mobility authority deputy executive director, said the reason for missing that opening was worker productivity declined from about 350 workers on-site daily before July 4 to about 250 workers daily. Dailey added CH2M has recently been ramping up the number of workers on-site. “The goal is to get it done,” he said. “We don’t want to be slipping into September.” Workers install sound walls in July on the southern portion of the MoPac Improvement Project.[/caption]

Contract enforcement

On July 27, the Mobility Authority board of directors authorized staffers to “take any and all action” to enforce the terms of the design-build contract with CH2M. “The contract term includes our ability to charge liquidated damages for a delayed completion of the project, both for the interim milestone, which is the opening of the northbound express lane from 2222 to Parmer as well as for the ultimate completion of the project by the end of the year,” Dailey said. “We’ve been accruing liquidated damages. That [authorization] allows us to start assessing them against any payments.” CH2M is fined $73,500 for each day the northbound section remains unopened, Dailey said. The contract capped damages at $20 million, but he said CH2M has already reached that cap and daily accruals have stopped. Once the northbound section opens, damages drop to $43,000 a day until the entire project opens, he said. “[The liquidated damages amount] could change because there’s contract changes, there’s claims that are in processing that we’re working with CH2M on that could adjust the days [of accruement] so their total amount could go down,” Dailey said. He said CH2M has indicated it is committed to completing the project, and he does not expect them to be fired. “We don’t see that on the horizon right now,” he said. “They are moving forward. They’ve made commitments to us. As you go out there right now you can see they’re getting a lot of work done in a short period of time. They’re not within that area where we’re going to start looking for default.”

Project process

Construction north of RM 2222 is about 85 percent complete, Dailey said. Remaining work includes bridge painting and adding lettering on the roadway, which require lane closures. “That’s a critical pinch point in the road,” he said. “Once we get that done we can make more room to complete the express lane work in that area.” Work on the underpasses near Cesar Chavez is also nearing completion, and Dailey said he expects traffic shifts to occur in September once that work is finished. “Things are looking good to keep that on schedule,” he said.