"Official Road Warrior" International Traveling Project Mgr. / Super.
My memories are jewels, my future a chest, Lord let me fill it before I go. RJM 1968
"I wonder what my life would have been like if I had been in the Placebo Group?"
The following is a small cross section of projects, problems
and the solutions I derived. Proactive not Reactive.
The Project: Military Base Housing,
The Problem: Erect 4’ x 8’ pre-fabricated panels with a constant wind of between 35 and 40 mph. Erect them without them becoming kites.
The Solution: Design and construct a fulcrum based guide to allow control of the panels as they were erected.
The Result: Ahead of schedule (95% complete) and under budget upon forced departure.
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The Project: Military Bases (7) in
The Problem (s): Furniture received via container shipping would show up without visible damage, but non functional (drawer locks, etc.)
The Solution: Analyze the problem using chalk and other means to identify the contact points and problems.
The Result: “Mark Problem / Fix” program initiated by me to alleviate the problem. I reduced the costs to deliver the product by an average of $17,000 per month, per base. Six bases x 17k per month x four years = $4.8 M savings. The Program budget was +/- 2.7B.
The Problem (2): Turn over, because of minor chips and scratches. We were spending average $4000/month per base.
The Solution (2): Buy and bring back, from the
The Result: Turn over increased from +/- 7?% to over 95%.
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The Project: Bed Bath & Beyond,
The Problem: The project came out of litigation (property transfer from Service Merchandise to BB&B) seven weeks late. Company told me “not to worry about liquidated damages”. Seventy one (71) days to original contract completion. Realized that assumptions were made that were incorrect with respect to the plumbing.
The Solution: Sent a RFI to the Architect requesting permission to “flip” the in-ground plumbing tree and punch out of the front of the building and run 60’ outside of the building instead of 120’ of open trench in a building with 11 scissor lifts.
The Result: The only one of five stores being constructed within the
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The Project: J Crew, Mall at Millennia,
The Problem: Assumed responsibility for the project 22 days short of turn over. Original bidding and A/C subcontractor failed to check on the availability of specified equipment. Notified that unit had not been manufactured yet. Delivery date 40/45 days out.
The Solution: Got on the phone and followed the chain of authority up the chain until I reached the factory. Explained the logic behind “fronting a ticket” for a national client.
The Result: A/C unit was on site 72 hours later from
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The Project: Bechtel / F.E.M.A. post Hurricane Katrina,
The Problem: Overwhelming………
(The Request): F.E.M.A. requested that Bechtel commit to an effort to install 800 living units in 8 weeks.
The Result: The southern
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The Project: JoAnn Fabrics,
The Problem: How to remove 120’ of eccentrically loaded CMU bearing wall with no vertical reinforcement to a height of 10’ and support the remaining structure until I could place “the steel beam and columns”. As the General Contractor I could not obtain a reasonable answer from either the Architect or the Engineer.
The Solution: I had to design (in practical application) a solution for the Engineer to review and approve. (Much to their surprise)
The Result: Project delivered on time with compliments from the Building Department on my design solution. (Liability is a great motivator)
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The Project: The Castillian Condominium, Longboat Key,
The Problem: Vertical transition of MEP’s with little or no thought to the volumetric requirements. Six floors of mirrored condo units. Discovered after the ground floor parking garages were constructed.
The Solution: I designed and proposed a minor re-routing of the mains and boxed out the subsequent floor pours.
The Result: On time, under budget.
The Project: Buttonwood Cove Condominiums, Longboat Key,
The Problem: No problem.
(The thought): Balconies were to be cast in place. CIP beams and slabs. RFI to use half block CMU and pre-cast slabs with a lightweight topping to obtain the slope for drainage.
The Result: 6 units per floor / 3 floors / 5 buildings
x $2700 per unit =$243,000 savings. On time, Under Budget.
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Quite simply......lead........follow.....or get out of the way !