Staff recommends that the City Council approve Amendment 6 with Morrison-Maierle, Inc. (M-M) for the engineering services associated with the Reconstruction of the Airport Commercial Aircraft Ramp - Schedule IV, for the amount of $229,417. 

On May 5, 2022, the City Council approved a five-year contract with M-M to provide all of the project design, survey work, construction inspection and oversight, and project closeout for the Aviation and Transit Department for all civil engineering work required during the five-year term.  This base contract with M-M is amended each time a new project is undertaken.  Amendment 6 for $229,417 will provide the final design, bidding process, survey, and construction management for the Airport Commercial Aircraft Ramp Replacement project - Schedule IV.

This project will reconstruct approximately 56,185 square feet of ramp where the airlines park aircraft.  The existing ramp was built in 2001 with 16 inches of concrete to support the wheel load weight of heavy aircraft.  This area also includes an asphalt pavement section built in 2006 for smaller aircraft and consists of 5 inches of asphalt that is rutted, not strong enough to support the aircraft that will be parking at the new B Concourse, and needs to be replaced with concrete. Three sections of the commercial ramp (Schedules I - III) were replaced over the past few years between 2019 - 2021, and the Airport plans to replace the final Schedule IV in the Summer of 2023.  Like Schedules I - III, Schedule IV concrete has been inflicted with Alkali-Silica Reaction (ASR).  ASR is a reaction that occurs over time in the concrete between the highly alkaline cement paste and the reactive non-crystalline silica found in many common aggregates and is usually triggered by excessive moisture, resulting in the spalling of concrete, loss of strength, and results in debris that could be sucked into a jet engine causing major damage.  Additives are now added to the concrete mixture to prevent ASR from occurring in the new concrete.  This project includes the removal of the existing concrete pavement, an asphalt pavement section, drainage inlets, and requires the reconstruction and installation of 16 inches of new P-501 Portland Cement Concrete Pavement over 4 inches of P-410 asphalt.  The estimated construction costs for this Federally eligible project are $3,000,000 and once the design work is completed, the project will be bid out this Spring with construction occurring after July 4, 2023.  Although this project will be taking place during the Airshow, it is in a completely separate location and will not impact this event. 

The scope of work and associated engineering fees for these services have been reviewed by T-O Engineering from Cody, Wyoming and negotiated by staff, and subsequently approved by the FAA.  The FAA requires that all engineering fees be reviewed by a second contracted engineering firm.  T-O Engineering was contracted to perform the secondary review, providing staff with an independent cost estimate to negotiate the fees with. 

City Council may:

• Approve Amendment 6 for the engineering fees with M-M; or
• Not approve Amendment 6 with M-M, delay the project, and advise staff on how to proceed.

The total cost of the engineering services in Amendment 6 are $229,417.  These fees will be funded 90% with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airport Improvement Program (AIP) entitlement grant funds and 10% with local match funds.  The FAA's grant funding will be $206,475.30 and the City's local match will be $22,941.70.  The local match funds are budgeted and available in the Airport's Capital Account.