|
2. TERMS OF
REFERENCE: BOREHOLE DATA ACQUISITION PROJECT CADRE
DE RÉFÉRENCE: PROJET D’ACQUISITION DES DONNÉES DE FORAGE |
Committee
Recommendation
That Council endorse the terms of reference for the Borehole Data
Acquisition Project
Recommandation du
comité
Que le Conseil appuye le cadre de
référence du Projet d’acquisition des données de forage.
Documentation
1.
Deputy
City Manager's report Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability
dated 11 February 2009 (ACS2009-ICS-CSS-0010).
Planning
and Environment Committee
Comité de l'urbanisme et
de l'environnement
and / et au
Agriculture
and Rural Affairs Committee
Comité de l'agriculture et des questions rurales
and Council / et au Conseil
11
February 2009 / le 11 février 2009
Submitted by/Soumis par : Nancy
Schepers, Deputy City Manager
Directrice municipale adjointe,
Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability
Services d’infrastructure et Viabilité des collectivités
Contact
Person/Personne-ressource : Carol Christensen, Manager/Gestionnaire,
Environmental Sustainability/Durabilité de
l’environnement, Community Sustainability Services/
Services de viabilité des collectivités
(613)
580-2424 x21610, Carol.Christensen@ottawa.ca
SUBJECT:
|
|
|
|
|
OBJET :
|
CADRE DE RÉFÉRENCE : PROJET D’ACQUISITION DES DONNÉES DE FORAGE |
That Planning
and Environment Committee and Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee recommend
that Council endorse the terms of reference for the Borehole Data Acquisition
Project
Que le Comité de l’urbanisme et de
l’environnement et le Comité de l’agriculture et des affaires rurales
recommandent au Conseil d’appuyer le cadre de référence du Projet d’acquisition
des données de forage.
Information about the subsurface geology is required for a wide range of projects. Drilling boreholes is the source of the subsurface information. Typical projects requiring this information include:
· City infrastructure and facility projects
· development applications to demonstrate the competence of soils and geology to support foundations for buildings and structures
· the adequacy of the supply of drinking water for private and communal systems.
The major components of this project are:
· establish consistent approaches and standards for development of borehole information for projects requiring review by the City including construction projects and development approvals
· have the data provided to the Province at an agreed upon frequency to be stored in the Provincial Borehole Database
· enable the provision of the data to:
§ members of the Ontario Geospatial Data Exchange (a Provincial data warehouse of which the City is a member
§ proponents of projects requiring review by the City
The information is a largely untapped asset residing with private sector companies. This project will make that asset broadly available to the public sector and the consulting and development community. This access to the information base will enable improved mapping products and better, more consistent information for initiatives from Source Water Protection through to review of development proposals. The ready access to all data will support more selective location of boreholes and in some cases reduce the need for drilling, while assisting in identifying areas of concern where more boreholes are required.
This initiative is supported by the need for public access to reports and information for projects under Bill 51.
The attached terms of reference were developed with the participation and strong support of the local Source Water Programs, the Conservation Authorities, the Ontario Geological Survey, the Geological Survey of Canada, and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.
The terms of reference was presented to the Engineering Liaison Sub-Committee (ELSC) with a request for comments and suggestions on participation. The ELSC is a technical liaison committee that meets monthly to discuss engineering related issues pertaining to development, as well as new and emerging initiatives, processes and policies. The committee is comprised of representatives from the development industry, developer consultants, and city planning and infrastructure approvals staff.
There are no legal/risk management implications to implementing the
recommendation in this report.
Any costs incurred in providing the information as part of a project is anticipated to be offset by the value of both the access to existing data and improved consistency. Funding of the project is based on a 1/3 City 2/3 Provincial cost sharing. with the City's portion approved in the 2009 budget. The estimated budget is available upon request and funds for the 1/3 City share are available as part of the 2009 Capital budget of the Environmental Sustainability Division, account number 903255 : Lower Rideau Watershed Strategy.
Document 1 Terms of Reference: Borehole Data Acquisition Project
Staff will present the results of the work to Committee and Council for endorsement as part of the implementation process.
TERMS OF
REFERENCE: BOREHOLE DATA ACQUISITION
PROJECT DOCUMENT 1
Terms of Reference
Borehole Data
Acquisition to
Support Enhanced
Geology Assessments
Recent work on groundwater studies and the development of source water protection programs has identified:
· the value of data that can be gleaned from borehole databases from all sources
· the challenges in ensuring data integrity in the borehole data
· the need to capture information and lessons learned by consultants working on specific projects, including interpretations of and refinements to borehole databases
· the advantages of sharing information among partner organizations, more specifically, the issue of how disclosing and disseminating borehole data captured by one organization to partner organizations decreases repetition of effort and maximizes mutual benefits.
Boreholes provide a point representation of surficial geology. While most boreholes completed have a local or project specific purpose the value of the information is greatly increased if the it is considered in context of other existing information: specifically that the geoscientist/engineer has a knowledge of the 3D geology and stratigraphy of the area prior to drilling the borehole. The objective is to advance the knowledge of the subsurface and make that knowledge available to all agencies; sharing information will limit the duplication of effort and enhance the products of all projects. Standardization of geological terms across Eastern Ontario is necessary to achieve this goal; standardization will assist in consistent interpretations.
Boreholes are required to provide geotechnical information for a wide variety of purposes including:
· City infrastructure and facility projects
· development applications to demonstrate the competence of soils and geology to support foundations for buildings and structures through to
· the adequacy of the supply of drinking water for private and communal systems.
The City of Ottawa, following City of Toronto’s lead, had Golder Associates create a database of all borehole data that is currently available (with location coordinates) from previous work for the City, where approximately 9,000 boreholes are found largely in the public right-of-way. The data has been forwarded to the MNR Water Resources Information Project and incorporated into the Provincial Borehole database.
The purpose of this work is as follows:
· establish on going processes to:
o maximize the value and integrity of data collected from all types of boreholes constructed in Ottawa as a model for the province
o ensure the data collected from all boreholes as identified by this work is forwarded to the province in a format that supports the ready loading of the information into the Provincial Borehole database
· address intellectual property, copyright, and ownership of the data as well as privacy of information issues, if any.
· provide access to the data through Land Information Ontario to members of the Ontario Geospatial Data Exchange and other agencies for non commercial purposes
The successful implementation of this project will result in the ready access to borehole data for enhanced analyses. As for the acquisition of the borehole data, the future goal is to improve the consistency and clarity of supporting documentation for geological / hydro-geological analysis methodology and results such that another practitioner can review decisions taken and /or recreate the same product with confidence. This will enhance the role of modeling as a communication tool between practitioners and includes:
· reviewing and enhancing borehole information through comparison with existing data sets
· developing localized project specific information including:
o general groundwater flow paths and
flow
o location of groundwater tables, recognizing seasonal-yearly variations
o linkages with surface characteristics
· enhancing regional and provincial scale mapping
Extensive borehole information is created every year. The information is a largely untapped asset residing with private sector companies. This project will make that asset broadly available to the public sector and the consulting and development community. This access will enable improved mapping products and the enhanced integrity of new information. The ready access to all data will support more selective drilling and in some cases reduce the need for drilling.
The enhanced integrity in the information will improve the identification of anomalies in the data. When the anomalies reflect variations in the geology it reflects the fact that the site geology may be different than expected. This may lead to appropriate increases in the need for boreholes with a net decrease in liability associated with insufficient geology information and risk to all parties.
The scope of this project is limited to establishing the on-going provision of data, as defined by this project, from Consultants as described above to the MNR Water Resource Information Project for incorporation into the Provincial Borehole Database. The development of methods to provide sub-sets of this data to other users and organizations can be addressed by parallel or subsequent initiatives as identified by each partner agency.
The capture of information may include the specifications for water and soil quality. However, water and soil quality information is beyond the scope of this project.
Data maintained in the Provincial Borehole database will be available through Land Information Ontario to members of the Ontario Geospatial Data Exchange. Members of OGDE in turn can provide the data to others for work that is for or required by the member.
The following groups
will be part of the project team and will implement the recommendations of the
project. The following groups will
provide the consultant team with the required information about their business processes
that are relevant to the provision of information. An example is that the Development and Infrastructure Approvals
groups will provide information on the development approvals process such that
the consultant can provide appropriate sections to be added to process documentation
by the City.
2.2.1 Groups Requiring Borehole Information for
Approvals or Projects
City of Ottawa Development Approvals and
Infrastructure Approvals Divisions
The City of Ottawa
Development Approvals and Infrastructure Approvals Divisions will
·
incorporate
sections into the Development Approvals Process as determined by this project
·
implement the
amended agreements as part of the implementation phase of this project
The sections will
incorporate notification to proponents for the development:
·
The requirements
to provide data as specified
·
The intent to
make the data available to other agencies for other analyses to further the
understanding of the local geology and water resources consistent with the
provisions of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection Of Privacy
Act
·
disclaimers, and
liability, intellectual property, and related matters.
City of Ottawa Construction Services and
Real Property Asset Management
·
incorporate
standard terms of reference and/or specifications as determined by this project
·
implement the
amended terms of reference and specifications as part of the implementation
phase of this project
Other Organizations
The work will support
the participation of other organizations such as Source Water Regions and CAs
that wish to follow the process as developed by the City of Ottawa.
The City of Ottawa
Information Centre will establish requirements and budget to implement
·
an Oracle
instance of the Provincial Borehole Database including regular loading of
updates as available from the Province
·
e-maps support of
technical reports supporting the data provided
· provision of sub-sets of the data set as required as background information for any projects that fall under the scope of this project
·
The data will be
maintained under the umbrella of the Ontario Geospatial Data Exchange. Data is available to all members for use as
required by the users. The working
assumption is that the City of Ottawa as a member will provide developers or
their consultants existing borehole data and supporting information for the
project areas as required background information for a development
proposal. The proponent then contributes
new data to the ODGE database for use by others.
City staff and the selected Project Team may agree to minor adjustments to the Terms of Reference as needed to respond to changes in the circumstances and context of the project as it progresses.
The purpose of this task is to identify standard protocols, specifications, and documentation for borehole information including:
· classification of projects for which boreholes are required and the classification of information to be gained from drilling the boreholes including the identification of any types of boreholes that may be excluded from this approach
· information reviewed prior to drilling a borehole such as mapping and existing reports,
· standard field observations,
· standard codes and notes to be used in documenting the interpretation of the core,
· comments on the results of the borehole interpretation compared to the expectations derived from the planning stage
· standard format for digital storage of the data
· QA/QC procedures, including the classification of quality of information dependant on the type of project and standards followed (address golden spikes vs. basic information requirements)
Tasks for this work component include:
· scope the range of projects requiring boreholes
· inventory current practices for consultants providing information to the City either directly for City projects or in support of a development application or other works
· inventory relevant guidelines, standards, and specifications prepared by OGS, GSC, MNR and the City of Ottawa, including but not limited to:
o City of Ottawa Draft Technical Requirements for Hydrogeology and Terrain Analysis Studies for Privately Serviced Developments
o City of Ottawa Geotechnical Investigations and Reporting Guidelines for Development Applications
o Ministry of Northern Development and Mines Draft Protocol for the Completion of Aggregate Resource Inventory Projects
o Provincial Borehole Database Documentation
o Slope Stability Guidelines
· consideration of the ability to readily use the information with standard software packages for profiles and cross-sections (support of standard software for analyses is beyond the scope of this work)
· summarize and present alternatives for standard specifications for all types of borehole information as identified above for boreholes within the scope of this project including confirmation of standards for interpretation, terminology, and incorporation of simplified codes. Standardization and consistency of naming conventions is required.
o Notes:
§ professional engineers use different terminology than professional geoscientists and the standards and naming conventions shall support both groups
§ Standards used by GSC and OGS will be included in the review and selection of standards
· facilitate discussions among all parties to determine standard protocols, for planning, recording, documentation, and provision of data in standard format at defined times. The number and types of meetings required is to be identified in the proposal.
· address disclaimers and liability issues related to the use of the data. The working assumption is the liability rests with those using the information to support decisions not the provider of the data.
The purpose of this task is to identify the standard methods to transfer data from the consultants to the MNR Water Resources Information Project Province for loading into the Provincial Borehole Database that minimizes effort and maximizes data integrity.
Tasks for this work component includes:
· Identify alternative approaches and selection of the preferred approach for providing project level data to the Province for incorporation into the Provincial Borehole Database
· In discussion with Supporting Groups identify means to ensure the data is provided as specified and within defined timelines
The working assumption is that the implementation of this process can use existing software tools and processes as currently supported by some if not all consultants.
The purpose of this work item is for the consultant to work with the City to demonstrate the process with selected projects, and provide a one-day workshop with supporting documentation for other area consultants. The process will be proven for three development approvals projects and three construction projects, through to the provision of the data to the Province and incorporation of the data into the Provincial Database. In other words the purpose of this task is to demonstrate how and confirm that the process works and share the methodology with others through a workshop and documentation.
It is anticipated that this work can be incorporated into other projects the consultant is working on. While the level of effort is expected to be relatively low, the duration of this step will reflect the duration of the project phases through which borehole information is developed and provided to the Province.
The client project manager is:
Kevin Cover, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sustainability
Economic & Environmental Sustainability Branch
Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability
City of Ottawa
Phone: (613) 580-2424, ext. 22830
Fax: (613) 580-2459
Kevin.Cover@ottawa.ca
The Consultant will be responsible for all study deliverables and milestones including the following:
o Regular contact with the project manager to ensure that the concepts and direction of work reflect the Terms of Reference for this study;
o That the work plan for the study, as described by the final Terms of Reference and Proposal, including due dates for all deliverables, meetings and milestones, is followed;
o Requesting written permission for variations to the budget or work plan prior to incurring costs or effort not addressed by the Terms of Reference and Proposal.
The City of Ottawa project manager will be kept informed regarding the progress of all meetings and discussions.
The consultant is responsible for the preparation of all presentation materials, printing and photocopying, unless other arrangements are agreed upon during the course of the study.
All data prepared as part of this work is the property of the City of Ottawa and copies will be provided as a deliverable of this work. The methodologies developed by the consultant for this study may be used by the consultant for other work. However, the data may not be used for any other purpose without the express permission by the City of Ottawa.
The proposal shall clearly identify the project manager and document his or her role and contribution to this study. A resource allocation chart shall be provided with a breakdown of the major tasks and the level of effort of the identified team members. This chart should indicate what task is to be fulfilled by whom and at what stage in the study process. Once the Terms of Reference have been finalized, any changes in personnel and level of effort will need to be approved by the City.
The proposal shall include a clear project schedule with defined deliverable dates, consistent with the general timeline provided below.
|
Table: Borehole Data Acquisition
Major Milestones |
|
|
Milestone |
Approximate Date |
|
Submission of Proposals |
|
|
Selection of Consultant |
|
|
Finalize Terms of Reference |
|
|
Draft Review of Existing Standards and Process |
|
|
Facilitated Discussion of Standards and Process with Consulting and Development Community |
|
|
Draft Specifications and Process Documentation |
|
|
Pilot
Implémentation |
|
|
Final Report |
|
A project report documenting
o the decisions taken in development of the final
products including notes of meetings
o all protocols, standards, specifications, and
standard information to be incorporated into development approvals documents
and project terms of reference.
o demonstrated functioning of the process for six
projects
5 SUPPORTING GROUPS
City of Ottawa:
o Infrastructure Planning Unit
o Environmental Sustainability Division
o Infrastructure Management
o Construction Services
o Infrastructure Approvals
o Development Approvals
o Legal Services
o Real Property Asset Management
Source Water Programs:
o Raisin-South Nation Source Protection Region
o Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Region
o Conservation Ontario
Conservation Authorities
o Rideau Valley Conservation Authority
o Mississippi Valley Conservation
o South Nation Conservation Authority
o Raisin Region Conservation Authority
MNR Water Resources Information Project
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Geological Survey of Canada
Ontario Geological Survey
Ontario Ministry of the Environment
Representation from the geotechnical consulting and development communities would provide logistical insights and provide opportunities for gaining their support and their recognition of the benefits of the initiative. The Ottawa Developers Liaison Committee and the Ottawa Carleton Homebuilders will be contacts regarding representation from urban developers.
The proposal shall clearly identify the project manager and document his or her role and contribution to this study. A resource allocation chart shall be provided with a breakdown of the major tasks and the level of effort of the identified team members. This chart should indicate what task is to be fulfilled by whom and at what stage in the study process. Once the Terms of Reference have been finalized, any changes in personnel and level of effort will need to be approved by the City.
The proposal shall include a clear project schedule with defined deliverable dates, consistent with the general timeline provided below.
Your Proposal should include:
(i) a Service Proposal that demonstrates understanding of the scope and particulars of the Project, and should clearly address the following evaluation criteria numbered 1 through 6 inclusive (and numbered as such in the Service Proposal); and
(ii) (ii) a Financial Proposal that addresses the requirements set out in the Financial Proposal and Contractual Acknowledgement attached as Annex “B”. A total of 100 available points will be allocated to the Proposal as follows:
(i)
Service Proposal 80
(ii)
Financial Proposal 20
(i)
Engineering Service
Proposal 80
1. Experience and Qualifications of Consultant (10 points)
Outline your corporate experience. Provide three (3) similar projects completed by your firm over the past ten (10) years in the management and review of borehole information using standard software products including:
· Development and interpretation of Borehole information
· Development and interpretation of subsurface information
· Information Management
· Current use of software for managing Borehole Information
· Facilitation of Groups to Support Selection of Standard Approaches
The City will only evaluate three (3) examples. If more than three (3) project examples are provided, only the first three (3) will be evaluated.
2. Experience, Qualifications and Availability of Team Members (20 points)
Provide the qualifications, experience and time commitments of the Project Manager, Key Team Members, Sub-consultants and other Staff in the areas listed in item 1 above. List by proposed role or responsibility the, name of staff, years of experience in a table format. Ensure all relevant disciplines are documented. This project will benefit from the smallest team executing the core tasks.
Resumes should be included in the appendix.
3. Understanding of Objectives (10 points)
Describe your understanding of the assignment, including overall scope and objectives, noting any specific issues that may require extraordinary attention.
Note: Responses that incorporate excessive blocks of text that have been copied directly from the RFP will not be regarded as demonstrating an understanding of the requirement.
4. Quality of Approach and Methodology (20 points)
Describe the approach and methodology to be followed in completing all aspects of the assignment in order to achieve the stated project objectives. The Approach section of the proposal shall outline the consultant’s strategies, assumptions, and philosophies in completing this design assignment and obtaining the necessary approvals. The Methodology portion of the proposal shall describe the consultant’s proposed process for completing this assignment.
5. Proposed Work Plan, Schedule and Level of Effort (10 points)
Provide a work plan and schedule, including a breakdown of the major tasks and the level of effort of the individual team members in sufficient detail to allow a complete understanding as to how and by whom the work is to be carried out. The level of effort presented in the service proposal must be expressed in hours, not days.
Note: That although the “person day allocations” are often included within the sealed financial proposal, the City prefers that a copy, without financial details such as per diem rates, be included in your service proposal, so that the level of effort can be clearly determined and may be evaluated at this stage.
6. Creativity, Innovation and Vision (10 points)
Provide examples of creative solutions your firm has used successfully on similar past projects. Give examples of any creative/innovative solutions, which you propose for this project.
(ii)
Financial Proposal (Cannot be amended) (20
points)
Points will be awarded based on Standard Deviation where the low cost responsive proposal receives full points, and other proposals lose points to the extent that they exceed the low cost responsive proposal. Financial points will only be awarded to Consultants who have achieved a minimum score of 70% (56 out of 80) on the evaluation criteria numbered 1 to 6 inclusive. Proposals that do not meet the minimum score required will be deemed non-compliant and will be given no further consideration.
In a separate sealed envelope, clearly identified as Financial Proposal, and using Annex B which is attached for that purpose, the Consultant is to provide a Total Upset Limit Price, to include all fees, disbursements and taxes, to complete this assignment in accordance with the Services detailed herein and in the Consultant’s proposal.