Production on 12" C900 PVC Watermain Install 4

[Living Stone]

How would you go about estimating the production on the installation of a 12" C900 DR-14 PVC Water Main installed in rural Nebraska? 5' cover. 2 crews each consisting of 1 backhoe operator and 2 pipe fitters. I have 14,500 feet to install. No groundwater, little to no utilities.

 

[bimr]

Take your plans to a local Contractor and ask for an estimate.

 

[Living Stone]

Have you had success in such an endeavor? Most contractor's are reluctant to provide such information...hard enough to get a work schedule once they have won the project! lol...thanks bimr

 

[JedClampett]

Means estimating books have labor costs and rates. But you'll have to invest in Means. It's $889 for the Civil Volumes.
Also note that they might not have the exact case you're looking for. I.e., they might have installation of an 8" main. So, you'll have to use some judgement.

 

[bimr]

It is common to develop relationships with Contractors that you work with regularly and you can trust.

 

[Living Stone]

I should make a clarification, not because of the replies to this thread, but just so you know my true intent of posting my question: I am really interested in the duration that this installation will take, as we will be traversing corn fields and would like to minimize crop compensation for damages, and would like to know what it would take (how many crews) to get in and out after harvest and before ground frost...

 

[Living Stone]

Maybe I need to enact a Frank and Lilian Gilbreth motion study, compile the information and understand the data, to be used for future use.

 

[EdStainless]

I have been on the other side of this, and it is customary that you never get right of way access without paying for at least one year's crop for that swath (entire work and traffic zone) across the field.
The two times that was on the property end of this they got done without any actual crop loss.
The payment to the farmers is small potatoes compared to the project costs.

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P.E. Metallurgy, consulting work welcomed

 

[Living Stone]

7,000' x 50' swath / 43560 * 170 buschels per acre * $9/buschel = $12,000 ish; yes about 0.6-0.8% of the project. Our program forbids paying for land or easements. I get nervous, for the clients we serve have poor cash flow and are underserved so I am always thinking how to get them to pay $0 out of pocket. They may be able to pay this amount...

 

[coloeng]

The answer is dependent on a lot of parameters. How experienced are the crews, how long have they worked together as a crew, what are the soil conditions, is one crew excavating and installing the pipeline while the other is backfilling and compacting, etc.

Based on my experience, an experienced crew that has worked together for a good amount of time and knows what the others are doing and what is expected of them can install 300-ft of 12-inch C900 a day with no problem. I have seen a crew install 800-ft of 8-inch C900 in one 10-hour shift. There were two excavator operators, one front end loader operator and two labors on this crew. They had worked together for about 5 years installing water mains. On an average 10-hr day, they would typically install at least 400-ft of 8-inch C900. One of the excavators dug the trench and lowered the joints into the trench with the two laborers doing the ancillary work. The other excavator and loader backfilled and compacted with a roller wheel on the excavator.

I have done a lot of contracts for water main installation and for the time from notice to proceed to subtantial completion, I usually use 200-ft per day as an estimate of the time it will take. This includes the time for disinfection and pressure testing. The water mains also include installation of fire hydrants, tees and valves, meter pits, etc. The contractors usually have plenty of time to complete the job without exceeding the time limit.

Hope this helps.

 

[Living Stone]

Excellent post coloeng. Yes much variability. In the loess hills, we encounter much silt. Average crews. One installing. One backfilling. Good. Ever place specific performance requirements for certain installation operations, say, install 7,500 lf of water main within tillable land within 30 days or something like that (after harvest before 6" of frozen ground) of course that could vary as well and Owner and Contractor would act in good faith...

Another clarification: this water main is trasmitting well water to a water plant, no services...just valves and arv's...

 

[coloeng]

If this is a project that you are putting out to bid, you can always include a clause that the 7,500 lf of water main in the tillable land has to be completed within 30 days (is that 30 calendar days or work days?). You would probably need to have isolation valves and some means of disinfecting and pressure testing this section separate from the remainder of the project.

Also, I made a correction to my original post in the estimation of time using 200-ft per day instead of 20.

Good luck with your project.