Successful Horizontal Construction Work Completed With Job Order Contracting (JOC)

Job Order Contracting (JOC) is an efficient and flexible construction procurement method that enables organizations to complete many projects with a single, competitively awarded contract. Responsible for tens of thousands of projects and $4 billion in construction volume every year, Gordian’s Job Order Contracting solutions are the go-to delivery method for various types of work. In this post, we’ll look at JOC’s success with horizontal construction.

Horizontal construction refers to work done on or near the ground, where the end result of a project spreads out across a large, low area instead of building skyward. The term is often shorthand for work on roads, bridges, rail and other forms of infrastructure where length is paramount. It may be helpful to think of horizontal construction as building out instead of up.

Job Order Contracting Success With Horizontal Construction

Emergency Road Repairs

Organizations often turn to Gordian’s Job Order Contracting (JOC) for emergency work because it establishes local prices upfront, eliminating the premiums often associated with unexpected construction. This allows them to control costs in their time of need while ensuring a speedy emergency response and high-quality recovery efforts. Here are two prime examples of what makes JOC a unique solution for emergency horizontal construction work.

“I believe the JOC contract really was that huge advantage in getting that road open as soon as possible and as safe as possible.”

– Kurt Harris, Environmental Maintenance Engineer, Arizona Department of Transportation

When a 200-year monsoon devastated and damaged 24 miles of Route 89A, the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) needed a way to mobilize quickly and re-open the highway. They turned to Gordian JOC to expedite repairs and control costs. The S.J. Anderson Company, a local contractor, sprang into action immediately, and the $1.6 million project was completed in only six weeks.

The County of Monterey (CA) has been a Gordian JOC customer and proponent for over 10 years, completing tens of millions of dollars in construction volume over that span. A sizable portion of the work has been emergency horizontal construction, like when relentless winter storms created a sinkhole in Elkhorn Road and washed away a hillside. County leaders knew JOC was up to the task and leveraged the innovative project delivery method to repair the damage and re-open the road quickly.

“Seeing that it was repaired so quickly and with such quality, as residents we were really pleased. It’s nice to see your taxpayers’ money used that way.”

– Florence Kabwasa-Green, Interim Chief of Facilities, County of Monterey

See more examples of Job Order Contracting in action in our JOC 101 video series.

Bridge Replacement and Repair

Horizontal construction is more than streets and roads; bridges represent a significant chunk of the category. Job Order Contracting is a tremendous vehicle (pardon the pun) for bridge work because JOC projects are delivered as much as 25% faster than traditional construction procurement methods like Design-Bid and Design-Bid-Build, according to a report by NIGP and Gordian. JOC’s unique single solicitation process accounts for this enhanced speed, along with the fact that JOC establishes local prices upfront, eliminating delays due to price negotiations. By taking the lion’s share of the focus off of project costs, owners and contractors can work together to focus their efforts on project quality.

Watch this video to see a bridge replaced with Job Order Contracting in just one day.

New York Town Installs Streetlights

Residents of the Town of Greece, New York, were grateful to have their roads repaved, but they came to local leaders with an added request to install street lighting on a mile-long stretch in a residential area. Town officials turned to Gordian’s Cooperative JOC to respond to community needs without impeding the progress of the re-paving project.

Also known as ezIQC®, Cooperative JOC further fast-tracks project delivery because contract details have been worked out between Gordian and a third-party partner, typically a cooperative purchasing association or a statewide agency, which holds a master contract shared by many organizations. With pricing set and contractors awarded, these are construction-ready contracts that can be accessed and acted upon immediately.

Is your organization a member of a purchasing cooperative or group purchasing organization? Enter your next project and get work started immediately.

Work included directional drilling, burying conduit, erecting light poles and installing LED light fixtures. Using Cooperative JOC for streetlight installation saved at least eight months of procurement time according to Town Supervisor William D. Reilich.

“Because of Cooperative JOC, we were able to add the installation of our streetlights to our project and still complete all work in one construction season, a win-win for our residents.”

– William D. Reilich, Supervisor, Town of Greece

Horizontal construction is crucial for keeping communities moving. Job Order Contracting is a proven method for completing this work quickly and cost-effectively.