LOWER MAKEFIELD, PA – The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission today awarded a contract to a firm that will oversee construction of the bistate transportation agency’s new headquarters building in Bucks County, PA.
The new building is to be constructed on a portion of a 10-acre parcel the Commission purchased from Lower Makefield Township in 2016. The property is easily accessible via the I-95/Taylorsville Road interchange (exits 51A & B) and is in close proximity to the Commission’s Scudder Falls Bridge, which is currently being replaced as one facet of a comprehensive project slated for completion in mid-2021.
The office building project is a separate undertaking and is not part of the much broader bridge project.
The new office facility will serve as the Commission’s administrative headquarters, replacing the agency’s multi-use facility adjacent to Route 1 in Morrisville, PA. and its executive office building adjacent to the Route 202 in New Hope, PA. The office project is currently in final design and the Commission is seeking to award a construction contract for the new building in early 2018.
To advance that schedule, the Commission today awarded a construction management contract to Joseph Jingoli & Son, a regional construction and project-management firm in Lawrence Township, N.J. The contract is for a not-to-exceed amount of $529,869.10.
Under the contract, Jingoli will be responsible for the overall coordination of the project work tasks to ensure the work remains on schedule and within budget. This includes management of subconsultants, coordinating with outside agencies, and assembling of the construction management team. Additionally, the construction manager is responsible for inspection services to ensure all work and materials are in compliance with design plans.
An additional important element of Jingoli’s contract is to provide a constructability review of the pre-final design plans for the Commission’s new office building. This independent review would complete the final design process, enabling the construction to be put out to bid.
The new 37,000 square foot, 2-story building will house professional office and meeting spaces, lobby/reception area, professional work stations, breaks rooms, support spaces, as well as outdoor eating and gathering spaces. The facility is expected to include Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) features such as natural daylighting, rooftop solar panels, sustainable materials and systems and other life-cycle cost features. The design team included building elements such as a glass curtainwalls and building structure to allude to a truss-like bridge structure.
“Our goal is to create a functionally efficient, contemporary office building that will also satisfy our administrative and service needs long into the future,” said Joseph J. Resta, the Commission’s executive director. “The final design plans include many features that will not only reduce facility maintenance and utility costs, but will also be very aesthetically pleasing, creating a positive work environment for our administrative employees.”
In addition to the new headquarters building, the Commission’s plans for the 10-acre site near the Scudder Falls Bridge include: reconstruction of the existing, underutilized I-95 park-and-ride on Taylorsville Road; protection of approximately two acres of preserved wetlands with accompanying drainage swales; installation of a connector path that will link the park-and-ride lot with the Delaware Canal towpath and the future Scudder Falls Replacement Bridge’s pedestrian/bike path; and restoration/adaptive re-use of a circa-1799 residence the Commission purchased adjacent to the property. Like the park-and-ride lot, the connector path will be constructed and maintained at the Commission’s expense.
The Commission’s goal is to have its new office building constructed and opened in summer 2019. This would then allow the agency to convert its current Morrisville facility into a largely maintenance-only operation and its New Hope administration building into a back-office/support operation.
