From Jason Frakes of the CJ:

 

For $100k that thing better light I-65. 

9 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

For $100k that thing better light I-65. 

You would think it would.  I wonder if that $100k also included the temporary wooden pole that preceded the new metal one?  Who knows...

41 minutes ago, Maleman58 said:

You would think it would.  I wonder if that $100k also included the temporary wooden pole that preceded the new metal one?  Who knows...

Plus the disposal fee...don't forget that.

"...the board approved awarding a contract to Arrow Electric Co., Inc. as the low bidder."

I knew I should have gotten into making light poles when I was younger....another missed opportunity. Shucks. 

Here's the thing...

1) Prevailing wages. Electrical companies are going to be the ones bidding on the replacement of stadium light pole. So with their wages including fringes, you can figure in $50-60 an hour, per person. So right there, one week of work for one person at $60 an hour is $2400.

2) Wanna remove a non-functioning light pole at your stadium? Time to rent a crane that can pick that old one up. Gotta be able to reach out over the practice field too, because unless you're planning on building a road out onto the practice field that's suitable to hold the 275-300 ton weight of a crawler crane, plus a crane pad to operate from, then your crane is going to have to be a VERY large one - capable of reaching out +/- 150ft from the road, and 60-70ft up to pick a stadium light pole. Figure $5K a day, plus crane operator rates, $160 an hour/$1280 per day, plus at least two certified crane rigging and signaling workers, as required by OSHA. Call that another $1200 per day for the two of them. You need at least a couple of guys there from the electrical company that bid the work, to oversee the removal of the old pole and disconnect the electric...that's $960. So day one, removal of the old pole: $5000 + $1280 + $1200 + $960 = $8440.

3) Demolition/removal of the old footings for the light pole (if any). Most stadium light poles, unlike many utility poles for electrical and phone lines, have concrete footings in the ground around them. That footing was designed for the old pole, and will need to be removed for the new one, and replaced with compacted material. Not sure whether or not that happened, but that would be a days with a concrete hoe ram to break up the concrete, plus the cost of the operator, plus a couple of laborers with shovels, a skidsteer or backhoe to load demo'd concrete and dirt into and a dump truck, a dump truck driver, dumping fee for the demo'd concrete and dirt...call that $2500 or $3000 for the day.

4) It predates my time here in Louisville, but I'm guessing Male's Maxwell Field was originally built in 1991 when they renovated the former Durrett High School campus to move Male out to Preston Highway. So that puts the underground electrical service for that light pole, at newest, at 29 years old. I'm not an electrician, but I'm strongly inclined to think the underground electrical service of that age A) has probably suffered some water intrusion in the original conduit, if there was any conduit used in the first place, B) is more than likely sub-standard electric by today's electrical code, and C) probably doesn't meet the electrical specifications/requirements for modern stadium lighting anyway. Time for more work to dig up and remove the old electric and replace it with new conduit and electric. So there are electricians' wages, hourly equipment fees for any excavating, operator fees, etc. Cost of conduit too. And does anyone have any idea what the cost is on the actual wire used for the three-phase electrical service run supply a stadium light pole? We could be talking hundreds of dollars per foot. I'm not going to itemize the cost here...but you see where I'm going with this.

5) Time to order a stadium light pole itself. That's probably ballpark of like $20K...couldn't say for sure without seeing the specs for the pole and the lights that they used.

6) Time to install the new footing for the new light pole. So we're back to requiring excavating equipment, operator fees, laborers, concrete masons, concrete material, reinforcing steel, electricians to install the code-required grounding.

7) Now that everything is ready and the light pole has been delivered to the site, it's time to get that big 'ol crane back out there. See #2.

Lastly, you want to make a profit and cover your overhead. For state work, prevailing wage, most "trades" (not general contractors...so companies like electrical companies) charge 15% and 10% for profit and overhead. So $99000 ÷ 1.25 = $79200...once all of the actual costs add up to $79200, then you add on your 15% & 10% and you're at $99K. I just don't see that as being that much of a stretch.

1 minute ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Here's the thing...

1) Prevailing wages. Electrical companies are going to be the ones bidding on the replacement of stadium light pole. So with their wages including fringes, you can figure in $50-60 an hour, per person. So right there, one week of work for one person at $60 an hour is $2400.

2) Wanna remove a non-functioning light pole at your stadium? Time to rent a crane that can pick that old one up. Gotta be able to reach out over the practice field too, because unless you're planning on building a road out onto the practice field that's suitable to hold the 275-300 ton weight of a crawler crane, plus a crane pad to operate from, then your crane is going to have to be a VERY large one - capable of reaching out +/- 150ft from the road, and 60-70ft up to pick a stadium light pole. Figure $5K a day, plus crane operator rates, $160 an hour/$1280 per day, plus at least two certified crane rigging and signaling workers, as required by OSHA. Call that another $1200 per day for the two of them. You need at least a couple of guys there from the electrical company that bid the work, to oversee the removal of the old pole and disconnect the electric...that's $960. So day one, removal of the old pole: $5000 + $1280 + $1200 + $960 = $8440.

3) Demolition/removal of the old footings for the light pole (if any). Most stadium light poles, unlike many utility poles for electrical and phone lines, have concrete footings in the ground around them. That footing was designed for the old pole, and will need to be removed for the new one, and replaced with compacted material. Not sure whether or not that happened, but that would be a days with a concrete hoe ram to break up the concrete, plus the cost of the operator, plus a couple of laborers with shovels, a skidsteer or backhoe to load demo'd concrete and dirt into and a dump truck, a dump truck driver, dumping fee for the demo'd concrete and dirt...call that $2500 or $3000 for the day.

4) It predates my time here in Louisville, but I'm guessing Male's Maxwell Field was originally built in 1991 when they renovated the former Durrett High School campus to move Male out to Preston Highway. So that puts the underground electrical service for that light pole, at newest, at 29 years old. I'm not an electrician, but I'm strongly inclined to think the underground electrical service of that age A) has probably suffered some water intrusion in the original conduit, if there was any conduit used in the first place, B) is more than likely sub-standard electric by today's electrical code, and C) probably doesn't meet the electrical specifications/requirements for modern stadium lighting anyway. Time for more work to dig up and remove the old electric and replace it with new conduit and electric. So there are electricians' wages, hourly equipment fees for any excavating, operator fees, etc. Cost of conduit too. And does anyone have any idea what the cost is on the actual wire used for the three-phase electrical service run supply a stadium light pole? We could be talking hundreds of dollars per foot. I'm not going to itemize the cost here...but you see where I'm going with this.

5) Time to order a stadium light pole itself. That's probably ballpark of like $20K...couldn't say for sure without seeing the specs for the pole and the lights that they used.

6) Time to install the new footing for the new light pole. So we're back to requiring excavating equipment, operator fees, laborers, concrete masons, concrete material, reinforcing steel, electricians to install the code-required grounding.

7) Now that everything is ready and the light pole has been delivered to the site, it's time to get that big 'ol crane back out there. See #2.

Lastly, you want to make a profit and cover your overhead. For state work, prevailing wage, most "trades" (not general contractors...so companies like electrical companies) charge 15% and 10% for profit and overhead. So $99000 ÷ 1.25 = $79200...once all of the actual costs add up to $79200, then you add on your 15% & 10% and you're at $99K. I just don't see that as being that much of a stretch.

You are a wealth of knowledge!

Just now, Tigerpride94 said:

You are a wealth of knowledge!

Well...that's my wheelhouse. I'm a commercial construction estimator, haha. And I spent about a decade as a commercial project manager too. I was the project manager that oversaw construction of the current soccer stadium at Northern Kentucky University, I've been PM on a few different school builds, and I've put together estimates on quite a few school bids.

4 minutes ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Well...that's my wheelhouse. I'm a commercial construction estimator, haha. And I spent about a decade as a commercial project manager too. I was the project manager that oversaw construction of the current soccer stadium at Northern Kentucky University, I've been PM on a few different school builds, and I've put together estimates on quite a few school bids.

It is a lot more than just this topic and you know it CWB! 

It was crazy how much light you lost with just that one pole being gone. It was very noticeable. 

Just now, TheDeuce said:

It was crazy how much light you lost with just that one pole being gone. It was very noticeable. 

I've only been out in Male's stadium once...it looks in that satellite picture like they have 4 light poles though. Did it seem like they lost more than a quarter of their light?

Just now, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

I've only been out in Male's stadium once...it looks in that satellite picture like they have 4 light poles though. Did it seem like they lost more than a quarter of their light?

Definitely. That visitor side was extremely dark compared to normal. 

I remember scrimmaging Male in the summer of 1992 at UofL. Holy cow was that team fast. We hadn't seen anything even remotely close to in NKY. They ran that triple option like Oklahama did in the mid-80s. Sooooo good. 

Anyone know what became of those 92 backs and QB?