Construction Management

Case Study:

Kansas City Power & Light Co. Johnson County Service Center

Eviction Notice! Those are not two words that anyone wants to hear. The management of Great Plains Energy Company, parent company of Kansas City Power & Light Co., received just such a notice from the Kansas Department of Transportation in late winter of 2002. KDOT was beginning work on the 87th & I-35 interchange in Johnson County. All of KCP&L’s Johnson County Service Center was in the way. As has been the practice since 1943, KCP&L turned to Fogel-Anderson Construction Co. to aid in completion of the relocation of the facility that keeps energy moving through electricity-hungry Johnson County. The facility houses maintenance and repair crews and equipment that responds to power interruptions. In concert with Helix Architects and Great Plains’ real estate department, a site in eastern Lenexa, across from WaterOne’s facility was located and purchased. The Design and Construction Team had twelve months to complete a multi-building service complex similar in nature to the numerous Centers built by Fogel-Anderson Construction Co. during the 1990’s throughout the Metro Kansas City Area. Construction durations alone were fourteen to seventeen months for those Centers. The Team had twelve months to the day to move KCP&L’s operations ahead of KDOT’s demolition crews.

The project took on many innovative quality control programs. Weekly meetings consisting of as many as 30 individuals involved in aspects of this project addressed design, scheduling and Owner “wish lists”. Mini-teams were organized to research the availability of products and compliance with industry and local authority standards. Each team had time restraints and budget limitations.

Design was completed to the extent that budgets were established, critical path activities were prioritized and permits were obtained. Project supervision in a “build-as-you-go” project such as this is the ultimate challenge.

Project Manager Jeff Bartolotta and Project Superintendent Paul Sedler (who possesses nearly 50 years of construction experience) became conflict resolution specialists. From both design and construction viewpoints, the site was daunting. It was the only site in the area that had not been utilized for construction. The Team determined the site had been used as a dump strip-mined for other area projects, leaving a “fish bowl” effect of solid rock. Rock was just one inch below grade. Nearly one million dollars was spent in rock excavation and haul-off. Not only did this affect scheduling (adding over 45 days to an already-tight schedule), it changed the Owner’s budget to such an extent that new and creative ideas were sought from members of the Team to enable the Owner to return to the projected cost. Extremes in weather conditions negatively impacted the project to the extent of 30 lost days. Fogel-Anderson Construction Co.’s problem-solving skills were severely tested. Hot-weather concreting provisions and masons sheltered by tents in extreme cold and windy conditions were two of the measures necessary to cope with the elements while maintaining schedule and budget.

This Project is special for many reasons. With only 14 months to purchase real estate, design structures, obtain permits, choose qualified contractors, locate building materials and build a Service Center that maintained KCP&L’s high standards, every facet of Design and Construction became its own “Critical Path”.

Keeping access to the adjacent businesses, maintaining the adjacent federally-inspected wet lands free from storm water runoff and construction silt and providing the project with environmentally-positive features, such as the sluice-gate valve that protects the area from accidental fuel storage tank spills- all the finishing touches to a special Project. Oh, by the way- KCP&L moved in two weeks before KDOT started demolition. Please access the link below to view the completed Project.

KCP&L Johnson County Service Center