This November, students from Goodwin’s Construction Management program proudly represented the College as they won third place in the Heavy-Civil Division of the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Northeast Region Student Competition. The competition included students from more than 16 schools from as far north as Maine to Virginia and west to Pennsylvania.
The Heavy-Civil competition, held on November 12 and 13, was sponsored by the marine construction firm Weeks Marine, Inc. The Drexel team called themselves "Days Marine Construction." The project was marine in nature and required the partial demolition and reconstruction of a cellular type breasting dolphin (a type of structure used to guide and/or moor water vessels) in the Arthur Kill, a major navigational channel of the Port of New York and New Jersey. The client was NuStar in Linden, N.J., which is a distributor of petroleum and related products.
After breakfast on Friday, the teams attended a pre-bid meeting in which the contract documents were distributed. The teams were then sequestered to their rooms from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m., at which time the proposals were collected. Addendums were delivered to the rooms and RFIs collected throughout the day. The proposal requirements included a comprehensive work plan detailing the team's approach to the job including all means and methods. A representative from Weeks Marine indicated that Days Marine's (Drexel) narrative of the means and methods was the most comprehensive and detailed and was essentially the best work plan. Other components included a detailed cost estimate, production rates, indirect costs (project overhead), bonding, and markup. The deliverables also included a detailed CPM schedule and site-specific safety plan.
In preparation for the competition, Drexel’s team met with professionals (SMEs in Marine Construction, i.e.: Urban Engineers, Agate Construction, Weeks Marine, and NuStar), attended field trips, and sacrificed two Saturdays prior to the competition for workshops. Goodwin College congratulates the team for positioning themselves for future career success and thanks them for serving as ambassadors on behalf of Drexel University and the Construction Management program.