Faulty culverts lead to about face on sidewalk extension
By Mark Squibb
Paradise council this week voted to claw back plans for 210 meters worth of sidewalk along Paradise Road due to budgetary constraints.
It’s a reversal of a decision from the previous public meeting, held August 6, when council approved 210 metres of sidewalk along the west side of Paradise Road from number 39 Paradise Road to the Mallow Drive intersection as part of the Glenderek Drive upgrade project.
Since that approval, however, staff were made aware that the contractor had come up against an unexpected problem.
Deputy Mayor Kimberley Street explained the contractor had intended to tie the new storm sewer into existing culverts installed by homeowners, thus reducing overall costs. However, during construction, the contractor discovered the existing culverts were faulty and not suitable for integration into the new system.
The contractor then developed an alternative design to realign the new system. Implementation of the new design carries a cost of $70,969, HST included.
Staff recommended that council retract approval of the sidewalk extension to accommodate the cost of the new design.
“Freeing up the budget allocated to Paradise Road by rescinding the motion to award the change order will make the necessary work on Glenderek Drive possible,” said Street, who added the installation of new sidewalk along Paradise Road can be revisited in the fall.
Some $98,128 will be returned to the project budget, bringing the available funds to $120,611.
“It’s very unfortunate and disappointing that we’re forced to rescind this motion here tonight that we approved at the last public council meeting for a new sidewalk on Paradise Road, but of course the funds originally came from savings realized on the Glenderek project, and now we need them to complete the project,” said councillor Glen Carew. “We hope to be able to find some savings in the rehab budget and infrastructure budget that maybe we can get it done this fall. At least we’re hoping that can happen.”
Street agreed it’s unfortunate, but added that when dealing with underground work, there are times when issues are discovered only after excavation has begun.
“You can’t see what’s underground until you dig it up,” allowed Mayor Dan Bobbett.
“The faulty culvert installation, we’re told, couldn’t be identified until excavation work started in that area, which is the reason we’re here at this juncture,” said Carew.
Council also awarded $39,740 for additional engineering work related to the project.
Street said the engineering services contract was awarded to Irvine Engineering Limited in the amount of $26,703, HST included, earlier this spring and that initially it was intended that Town staff would oversee contract administration and site inspection services during construction.
“The engineering department no longer has the capacity to provide these services due to the volume of current, on-going activity, and as a result, Irvine Engineering was asked to provide a quote for contract administration and site inspection services on the project,” said Street.
Irvine submitted a quote of $39,740, HST included to provide the services for eight weeks at a cost of $165 per hour for senior engineer resources and $75 per hour for site inspection. Street said that work beyond the agreed upon amount will require further approval.
There was only $35,000 left in the project budget prior to approval, which would leave less than $500.
All three motions were approved via e-mail votes of council earlier this month and ratified at Tuesday’s public meeting.