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VALUE DELIVERED
Salvaged a project that had been performed below standard and abandoned; installed new wider bandwidth communications cabling; enabled faster, more efficient campus information exchange; provided potentially improved educational capabilities.
OBJECTIVE
To upgrade its communications network from CAT5 to CAT6.
SOLUTIONS
When the original contractor failed to complete this project, the general contractor requested bids from other companies to rescue and complete the job. Though Contra Costa was not the low bidder, its past work for this client and industry reputation made it the preferred choice.
The company is performing the job in two overlapping phases. The first involves five buildings. During this phase, which was undertaken on a "time and materials" basis, the goal is to save as much of the previous work as possible. To enable this, the company's crew is proceeding on virtually a cable-by-cable basis, inspecting and testing to ensure that each one has been bundled, dressed and terminated at the racks in accordance with CAT6 standards, and in a way that would allow convenient servicing and future upgrading.
The second part of the project, which is being performed under a "lump sum" contract, involves installation of approximately 673,000 feet of new CAT6 cable in 21 buildings. Begun in 2007 after extensive pre-planning, the firm will complete this phase by June.
Managing the project also presents some special challenges. First, since the campus is in full operation, the company is minimizing disruptions by performing its work between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. In addition, manpower management and planning has to be thorough to ensure both adequate resources and appropriate building access. Finally, because of the job's complexity, the various stages and the different kinds of contracts, the company’s general foreman has to maintain consistently accurate daily documentation.
BACKGROUND
Located on a 375-acre site in metropolitan Bakersfield, California State University Bakersfield (CSUB) opened in September 1970 as the 19th member of the 23-campus California State University system. The university is a comprehensive regional university committed to excellence in its four schools: Humanities and Social Sciences, Business and Public Administration, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Education. Some 7,800 undergraduate and graduate students attend CSUB at either the main campus in Bakersfield or the off-campus center in Antelope Valley.
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