The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) is celebrating the month of October as Careers in Construction month.
The Construction Bureau, which is one of 20 bureaus in the Department, engages in the general supervision of all contract construction work and promotes statewide uniformity in interpretation and implantation of the contract requirements.
The Bureau is separated into eight different sections: Bridge Construction, Roadway Construction, Environmental Construction, Plan Review, Special Projects, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), Specifications and E-Construction.
As ALDOT celebrates Careers in Construction month, take a look at what each of the eight sections do in the Construction Bureau.
Specifications
ALDOT’s role within the Specifications section is to set policies and procedures while issuing any kinds of changes to the Department’s specifications book. That includes both general applications and special provisions. General applications apply in all projects, while employees are also responsible for project specific special provisions.
The section works closely with and gets feedback from industry partners to make changes with the specifications book.
e-Construction
The e-Construction section is responsible for the implementation and maintenance of technologies to transition the Department to paperless construction. Implementation initiative have been established, including providing tablets for project inspectors, document management, document retention, e-forms among others.
A big focus for ALDOT’s e-construction section is e-Ticketing. Almost 100% of ALDOT’s state highway construction are done by e-Ticketing. While the process is still a dual system right now, everything that can be done electronically is being moved that way.
Environmental Construction
Environmental construction has one of the most important roles of all eight sections. ALDOT will visit construction projects and make sure the Department’s best management practices are in place, functional and meeting Department guidelines. The section also makes sure projects are not impacting the environment outside of our construction site.
Environmental construction works with partners such as the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to do things such as manage storm water or make sure the Department is not silting in someone else’s property. The section also works with partner groups to set policies.
Disadvantage Business Enterprises (DBE)
The Construction Bureau administers ALDOT’s DBE Program through the oversight of any DBE-related issues arising from the time of the project letting through the final acceptance of the project. ALDOT will work closely with DBE partners, reviewing certifications and proposals. The bureau will conduct 1-on-1 interviews with applicants and recruit new DBE partners for ALDOT
Special Projects
The Special Projects section works together with the DBE section. When projects are let, a large amount of them have goals that need to be met. A set percentage of each project’s needs the work to be performed by a DB
The section’s contractors are responsible for reaching out to DBE groups who can perform that work. ALDOT also reviews each project to make sure the goals were met. If they were not met, there is a good faith efforts committee who reviews if ALDOT did everything it could do to meet goals.
Plan Review
The Plan Review section is responsible for a construction review of every single project that is let through office engineer. Projects that are reviewed can range from an estimate of $3 million to $80 million. The section gives a thorough review and get comments to designers and engineers of record to get the best plan.
Bridge Construction
The Bridge Construction section must make decisions for areas and project managers. If a contractor submits fault work along a bridge, ALDOT will review the issues and send comments and modifications back based on our experience. The section makes modifications that are the most structurally sound while working with the bridge bureau
Roadway Construction
Roadway Construction works much of the same way as the Bridge Construction section. The section will make decisions made on base materials, shoulder work or more. ALDOT does the best job it can during the design phase of a project, but contractors may find mistakes/oversights when they begin work on the project.
When that happens, the Roadway Construction section fixes the issue and recommends modifications for the plans. ALDOT will make the decision of approving or not approving all recommended adjustments. The section will also check costs with recommended changes for each project.
