Change is Coming

preparing for a decade of infrastructure construction

CATALINA CARRASCO

The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA 2018) or Public Law 115-123, which provides funding and authority for the Corps to address impacts caused by natural disasters, allocated more than $2.5 billion to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for several massive flood risk reduction projects and studies that will help protect communities. “We are on the verge of doing a generation’s worth of infrastructure in the next decade, more than we have done in the last 50 years,” said Jacksonville District Commander, Col. Drew Kelly. “We are going to do it as quickly as possible and, more importantly, we’re going to get it right.” This meant a significantly busy fiscal year 2019 for the Antilles area, where in addition to issuing contracts for design and construction, other activities took place ranging from hosting “Industry Days” to participating in public meetings which helped inform the community. Informing the Public In tandem with the non-Federal sponsor, the Puerto Rico Department of Environmental and Natural Resources, the Corps has hosted several public meetings to inform residents about the scope, the affected areas and the benefits the projects will provide to the communities. In November 2018 and also in June 2019, the Corps hosted scoping meetings for the Puerto Rico Coastal Storm Risk Management (CSRM) Feasibility Study and the San Juan Metro Area Back Bay Study. Each of these two studies have a $3 million cost and will take three years to complete. The San Juan Metro Back Bay Feasibility Study’s purpose is to determine federal interest in a recom

mended plan to reduce damages to infrastructure as a result of flooding from coastal storms and hurricanes along the San Juan Metro and Back Bay Areas in the municipalities of San Juan, Cataño and Carolina. The Puerto Rico CSRM Feasibility Study will assess the shoreline problems and provide possible coastal storm risk management alternatives for the benefit of infrastructure located along approximately 15 miles of the island’s coastline. In March, the Pittsburgh and Jacksonville Districts participated in the public scoping meeting for the $1.2 million Rio Grande de Manatí at Ciales Flood Risk Management (FRM) Feasibility Study, which reviews approaches that will reduce flood risk to structures in the community. Each of the meetings, which took place in San Juan, Rincon, Aguadilla, Loiza and Ciales, were attended by more than 100 residents in each locality. Following each presentation the panel of presenters urged attendees to provide additional information that could be helpful in assessing possible future projects as well as to express their concerns as residents, which would help the Corps further define future plans. “We are looking at the different options we have,” Jacksonville’s Deputy District Commander, Maj. Alexander Walker, said. “We want to see which option is most viable, the most cost-effective and the one that will provide the most benefit for the community.” The Corps also hosted “Industry Day” events in Puerto Rico in December and February, and a webinar in May.

Another milestone was the release for public comment by the Corps Chicago District of the Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Assessment for the Río Guayanilla FRM Feasibility Study at the Municipality of Guayanilla. After the public review period ends, the team will revise the report based on any comments that are received and work toward a Chief of Engineers Report in early 2020. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Corps along with the USVI Department of Public Works, hosted two separate public meetings in April for the Savan Gut Phase II and Turpentine Run projects. The two projects, previously authorized under Section 205 of the Flood Risk Reduction Continuing Authorities Program (CAP), seek to reduce flood damages to the Jane E. Tuitt Elementary School and the central business district in Charlotte Amalie, as well as to the Nadir community along Turpentine Run. Awarding Contracts More than $45 million in contracts were awarded this year for design and construction projects in Puerto Rico funded by the BBA 2018. In March 2019, the Corps awarded a $2.34 million contract to Stanley Consultants for the design and preparation of construction plans and specifications for the Upper Margarita Channel improvements, and relocation of the existing 30-foot by 24-foot sewer main siphon, which are part of the Rio Puerto Nuevo (RPN) Flood Control Project. In April, Option C of the RPN 2D Walls contract was awarded in the amount of $5.89 million, the first BBA 2018 supplemental construction contract awarded in the Antilles. The RPN project, which was appropriated $1.552 billion under the BBA 2018, includes the Rio Piedras Drainage Basin and its tributaries, which drain 24 square miles. The majority of the project area is highly developed with an affected population of 250,000, and commercial and public structures valued at more than $3 billion. The RPN includes seven discreet project segments that will be constructed through separate contracts between now and 2027. In September 2019, an $8.75 million dredging contract was awarded to Cashman Dredging & Marine Contracting Co., LLC, for the RPN project.

“Dredging the Puerto Nuevo Channel will allow us to get rid of the sediment that accumulated as a result of Hurricanes Irma and Maria,” said project manager Jose D. Bilbao. “This will in turn provide flood risk reduction to the surrounding communities, as the river will have a larger hydraulic capacity.” Another contract funded by BBA 2018 was awarded in September to the Advantix Engineering Corporation for the Salud Creek Streambank Protection Project at San Germán, Puerto Rico. The $1.01 million project consists of clearing and grubbing approximately 420 linear feet of channel embankment, the installation of a high-performance turf reinforcement mat, repairs to two concrete culvert outfalls, and embankment armoring of approximately 100 linear feet of channel with concrete. Also in September a $3.55 million contract was awarded to Three O Construction, S.E., for the Parcela Suarez, Loiza’s Emergency Streambank and Shoreline Protection Project, which will result in the construction of a continuous rock revetment along approximately 1,050 feet of shoreline. It is worth noting that there are seven Corps districts working alongside the Jacksonville District in the Antilles. The Chicago, Pittsburg, Huntington, St. Louis, Memphis, Vicksburg and Philadelphia Districts are part of the team of experts working to ensure the success of all the work being done for the betterment of the Puerto Rican and Virgin Islands communities. Beyond Supplemental Many other significant activities took place in the area this year, including the Regulatory section resuming their interagency meetings in both Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands. The meetings were suspended due to Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. In March 2019 a groundbreaking ceremony took place for the Dorado Bridge Channel Widening and Scour Protection contract, which was awarded with regular construction funds and non-federal matching funds. It is a segment of the $500 million Rio de La Plata flood control project, which helps manage flood risk in the towns of Toa Baja,

Dorado, Toa Alta, Mameyal, Ingenio, Campanilla, Levittown, and other communities in Puerto Rico. The $17.3 million contract, awarded to Construcciones Jose Carro, includes features to protect the channel along the Dorado Bridge. The construction includes some channel work, portions of the west levee, and erosion protection to the bridge foundation. Engineering Division continued working on plans and specifications for the first construction contract of the Caño Martin Peña Ecosystem Restoration Project. The first contract calls for construction of the main disposal sites, staging areas, and dredging of San Jose Lagoon and Caño Martin Peña up to the Barbosa Bridge. In May, the Corps and the Puerto Rico Port Authority signed a design agreement for the San Juan Harbor Navigation Improvements project. The $54 million project will improve the harbor by deepening and widening the channels to accommodate existing and future vessel movement, resolve navigation restriction problems, and present opportunities for economic development. And finally in September, the Planning Division completed the Municipality of Morovis Water Supply Intake Facility Project Report under the Planning Assistance to States Program (Section 22). The report delivered a preliminary analysis of structural and non-structural solutions, and proposed a feasible solution for local implementation of the project in the study area. Change is Good According to Kelly, the district commander, there is change coming to the Antilles area due to the volume, intensity and size of the supplemental funded projects. “It is going to be difficult. We have to formulate a plan and execute efficiently to successfully increase the work while maintaining the same exceptional quality, but we have demonstrated our ability to execute and therefore the work is coming,” he said. “We have a great office and fantastic professionals with many new people coming on board. Change is good, the sky is the limit.”

The Upper Margarita Channel project includes the construction of a concrete U-framed stilling basin, a 30- foot wide and 170-foot long concrete U-framed channel, temporary and permanent steel sheet pile walls, anchor walls, diversion canal, installation of access roads, and channel excavation. Photo: Brigida Sanchez