Thumbnail photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews
Nearly three months after becoming project manager for the federally-funded seawall replacement and Citizens Dock rebuild, Kimley-Horn representatives say Sept. 23 is the “kickoff date” for the endeavor’s final design phase.
After that Sept. 23 “kick off meeting,” Kimley-Horn will be vetting contractors and ensuring the project has the permits needed for in-water construction to begin by July 1, 2027, said Jerry Holcomb, an engineer who focuses on ports, maritime and waterfront projects for the firm.
“As project manager, the thing we’re going to try and make sure everybody understands is, kind of working back from that date, how do we make sure we’ve got the bids in place.” Holcomb told Crescent City Harbor Commissioners on Wednesday. “How do we make sure that we’ve got the contractor already mobilized … so they’re there ready to start on Day One.”
Holcomb made his first progress report on the project shortly before the Crescent City Harbor District Board chose Kimley-Horn over Moffatt & Nichol to spearhead the construction design work.
On Wednesday, Moffatt & Nichol project manager Younes Nouri said his firm would have a design package CCHD could take to contractors in four months. However, though Kimley-Horn’s proposal called for construction documents to be completed within 32 weeks, commissioners favored their lower price.
According to Mike Bahr, CEO of Community System Solutions, the firm managing the project’s grants, Kimley-Horn’s proposal includes eight weeks for regulatory agencies to review the construction documents.
Moffatt & Nichol’s timeline includes four weeks of local review of the construction documents, according to Bahr’s presentation.
Commissioner Annie Nehmer was absent on Wednesday.
CCHD received two U.S. Maritime Administration Port Infrastructure Development Program grants totaling about $15 million to rebuild the seawall that protects Citizens Dock Road as well as the first of two piers proposed for the 70-plus year-old wharf. According to the Harbor District’s request for proposals, the new 13,760 square-foot dock should be able to withstand a 50-year tsunami while the new seawall project includes repairing the packing and trucking area that’s been compromised by “seawater inflow.”
On Wednesday, Bahr said the request for proposals CCHD issued in July calls for the completion of 60% of the project’s design as well as the final design and construction documents before selecting a contractor.
The expected cost for the project’s design phase is $1,037,000, according to Bahr’s staff report. In addition to being paid for with MARAD dollars, Coastal Conservancy grant funding and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program dollars are also going toward the construction design for Citizens Dock.
In a statement to the Board, Nouri mentioned Moffatt & Nichol’s past performance associated with the Citizens Dock project — according to his cover letter, he has worked on CCHD projects since 2021. Their experience with the initial permitting stage helped Moffatt & Nichol put together an expedited schedule for the design work to be finished in only 16 weeks.
Holcomb’s colleague at Kimley-Horn, Rob Sloop, pointed to his own experience working with Moffatt & Nichol on projects at the Harbor District. Though it’s an eight month process instead of Moffatt & Nichol’s proposed four months, Sloop said Kimley-Horn’s construction design work will also be finished in time to meet the construction window.
“We believe the 30% to 60% (design phase) is the biggest position in the project where you’re getting things nailed down,” Sloop said. “Our process is we’re going to pre-qualify the contractors before the industry day. We’re going to ask them, ‘give us your qualifications,’ and then we’re going to meet with them on industry day at 60% and get feedback from them to finish our 100%. We’re not racing to 100% and then giving it to contractors.”
Harbor Commission Vice Chair John Evans pointed out Kimley-Horn’s position as Citizens Dock reconstruction project manager and asked how the firm would handle any potential conflicts if it’s tasked with the final construction design.
Sloop said the team doing the design work will have its own leader while another Kimley-Horn representative will be managing the project overall.
“We’re going to bifurcate those teams — we’ve identified on our org chart how that works,” Sloop said. “And then to further help you feel good about this, we have brought in a totally independent technical advisor that is a structural engineer that will provide technical oversight on top of what we would normally do… so that you will have an independent body. We feel that separates out any perception that the project manager is allowing the design team to get away with something or rush to a conclusion.”
During his update on the project, Holcomb said as the overall project manager, his team would serve as the single point of contact with the harbormaster and would track the master schedule, construction budget versus available funds and would monitor the project’s quality.
Holcomb said Kimley-Horn will also work with the fishing community on coordinating access as well as phasing plans to ensure the fleet continues operating during construction.
As for selecting a contractor to build the project, Holcomb said he didn’t anticipate that to take place before next spring. Still, the pre-qualification process for a contractor will be held between December and January, he said.
“I think we’ll narrow it down to the top four contractors, let’s say, and then when we go out to bid we’ll be issuing a bid to those select four individuals,” Holcomb told commissioners.
Holcomb said he anticipated holding a contractor industry day at the end of the year when his team has a better idea of the project budget.
