B.01 W912EP22Z0033 PR Big 3 Industry Day - 081722-0-USACE - Meeting.pdf

U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
*PUERTO RICO FLOODMANAGEMENT SUPPLEMENTALPROJECTS DAY MEETING
CLIENT

ADDRESS

HELD AT

August 17, 2022

9:00 a.m.

U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS

701 San Marco Blvd,
Jacksonville, Florida

Colegio de Ingenieros y Agrimensores de PR
Urb. Roosevelt
500 Antoln Nin Martnez Street
San Juan, Puerto Rico

APPEARANCES

Mrs. Lyan Garca

Programs & Project
Manager

SPEAKERS:

Mr. Stephen Dupries
Mr. Chad Gillan
Mr. Mark Waddell
Mr. Jorge Ayala
Mrs. Maricarmen Crespo
Mrs. Anelis Nazario Castillo
Mrs. Karla Garca
Mr. Michael P. Wielputz

Engineering Division
Engineering Division
Construction Division
Construction Division
Construction Division
Contracting
Contracting
MTC Savannah District
----

COURT REPORTER:

Mr. Daniel Figueroa Sanabria

PROCEEDINGS

MORNING SESSION

MS. LYAN GARCA:

Good morning. Welcome to the Puerto Rico Big Three

Industry Day. Can you hear me? Can you hear me now,

better? Okay. Ill just get closer to the microphone.

My name is Lyan Garca. Im a Project Manager at the

Jacksonville District Puerto Rico Integrated Program

Office. Today were going to be providing presentations

on the requirements for the Puerto Rico Big Three Flood

Risk Management Projects, Ro Puerto Nuevo, Ro de la

Plata, and Ro Grande de Arecibo.

This year we decided to do things a little bit

differently. Were going do separate sessions for the

benefit of you, the attendees. The morning session well

discuss the general requirements of the projects, while

the afternoon session well provide some more details that

subcontractors, material suppliers, and equipment dealers

should consider as we prepare for the construction

projects to start.

Before we continue, Id like to invite Major Soto,

the Deputy District Engineer for Puerto Rico and the

Virgin Islands to provide some opening remarks.

MAJOR SOTO:

Hello and welcome, everyone. Im Major Jess Soto,

Deputy District Engineer Commander for Antilles team. On

behalf of Brigadier General Kelly, South Atlantic Division

Commander, and Colonel Booth, Jacksonville District

Commander, it is my pleasure to welcome you to our

Industry Day.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers, myself,

and our team here in Antilles, are excited to host this

event as a way to gather all industry professionals

together at a single venue where we can ask questions,

answer questions, and share ideas. The purpose of the

Industry Day is so that USACE can meet with members of the

construction industry to provide information regarding

recently funded construction and flood risk reduction

projects.

This year our team will focus on our Big Three

Projects, Ro Puerto Nuevo, Ro de la Plata and Ro

Grande de Arecibo. These projects have a magnitude

complexity and a high material and equipment demand. We

will have the opportunity to acquire more information of

Puerto Rico Supplemental Flood Risk Management Projects

which are funded under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018,

that addresses the damages in 2017 that were caused by

Huracn Mara. But more importantly, is we will spend

valuable time together.

This event will give you the opportunity to interact

with industry partners, good relationships, and facilitate

a better understanding of USACE mission and contractors

capabilities. Lets face it, without you, we would not be

able to build these contracts that would positively impact

our communities in Puerto Rico. Looking forward to seeing

everyone out there enjoy all the information that is

provided. And now I will Following me will be Sharon

Rodrguez, Deputy Chief of Programs in Management Division

of Jacksonville. Thank you.

MS. RODRGUEZ:

Good morning, everyone. Im Sharon Rodrguez-

Hernndez, Im the Deputy Chief for Programs and Project

Management, Jacksonville District. On behalf of Colonel

James Booth our District Commander, I want to thank you

for being here today with us on this big day, the Puerto

Rico Big Three Industry Day.

It is with big excitement that we welcome you to this

event, because it shows your interest in partnering with

the US Army Corps of Engineers and being part of this

unprecedented program for our Puerto Rico. Many of us are

part of this team here and our hearts has driven us to be

here with you. You know, many of us have jobs before in

other districts with USACE and found our way to be here

and be part of this big moment for Puerto Rico.

One thing to let you know that we have brought with

us an incredible, an amazing team of experts. We have

here with us our Small Business person, Kimberly Daniel-

Ray. Kimberly, raise your hand. Karla Garca, shes the

Chief of Contracting for the IPO, Integrated Program

Office, for the Puerto Rico program. Chad Gillan, hes

our Supplemental Lead for Engineering. Maricarmen Crespo,

shes there in the back, our Airy Engineer, she will be

leading the construction efforts here in Puerto Rico.

This is big for us, its big, we had a virtual one,

we know COVID kind of paused everything in our lives, but

here, were here back trying to beat COVID and to get

business as usual, and trying to work together and

collaborate, because theres nothing like face-to-face

interaction.

Were going to be discussing these big, main features

for the two upcoming contracts that we anticipate to award

in fiscal year 23. We took a big step as we awarded the

first contract, La Chuleta, thats a big, big joy for

us. It shows that were here, were present, and were

not leaving, were not leaving until we finish building

all this.

This program will bring Just to have an idea of

the magnitude, you know, I know that our engineering team

is going to come and going to cover many of these things.

Theres twenty-six, about twenty-six bridge replacements.

Were talking about thirty miles of improved channels in,

or new channels, eleven miles of floodwalls and levees,

risk reduction to over 55,000 structures, while were

protecting twenty-nine acres of mangroves, twent fifty-

four acres of wetland, ten acres of estoril lagoon while

were building incidental recreational features and were

protecting approximately 100,610 people. And I look at

that number for some appears small, for me, its big.

Its big because its not just the people that reside in

that area, its the many people that get affected, that

live in different areas, remote areas in Puerto Rico,

outside the Island that are touched, that are affected by

any damage, or any, any suffering that our people

encounter every time theres an event.

I know theres economic interest given, driving many

of you on coming here today to try to get business with

the Corps, but I see you as our allies, as we spread the

word of what were doing with these projects. We need you

to spread the word with us in collaboration, finding a way

of doing this better, being successful, and trying to beat

our schedules, because the faster we build things, the

more protected we make our Puerto Rico.

So, I want to thank you, all of you for being here,

and I look for years of collaboration as we build these

projects. Thank you.

MS. LYAN GARCA:

Thank you, Major Soto, and thank you, Sharon.

It was working this morning. Just give me a minute.

Okay.

So, the agenda for this morning, will include a

general overview of the Big Three Projects. Then

representatives from our Engineering Division, Mr. Chad

Gillan and Mr. Stephen Dupries, you guys want to raise

your hands, will provide more details on the designs.

Then representatives from our Construction Division,

Mrs. Maricarmen Crespo, back in the back, and Mr. Mark

Waddell, in the corner over there, will discuss

construction considerations. Mr. Michael Wielputz, in the

corner over there, from the Savannah District Materials

Testing Center of Expertise, is going to provide more

information on the inspection and validation of the

laboratories.

conclude

morning

session,

representatives from Contracting Office, Mrs. Karla

Garca and Mrs. Anelis Nazario, and Mrs. Kimberly Daniel-

Ray, from our Small Business Program, will be presenting

on how to do business with Jacksonville and small business

opportunities.

As I stated earlier, the afternoon session will be

more focused for material suppliers, subcontractors, and

equipment dealers, but a lot of the discussion in the

morning will be included in the afternoon. Mr. Jorge

Ayala from the Construction Division, right over here,

hes going to be giving the presentation in the afternoon.

Before we continue, Id like to let everybody know

what some of the rules are for the event today. We have

a lot of people on the Webex. We will not be monitoring

the chat, so, I disabled it. If you do have any

questions, be sure to use ProjNet. I cant guarantee that

if you do write something that well be able to answer it.

Were