Paradise okays bigger budget for testing below surface

By Mark Squibb

Paradise council has approved an additional cash allowance for the Kenmount Road upgrades project.
Councillor Tommy Maher said the contract calls for a cash allowance to cover the cost of material testing throughout the duration of the project on all imported aggregates and reused onsite soil and aggregates, cement concrete and hot mix asphalt.
Town staff determined a maximum cash allowance at the start of the project, but that figure has since been reached, and so the contractor, Irvine Engineering, requested an additional $12,075 to continue testing.
Council approved the change order during the public meeting of August 5.
During a previous meeting, engineering director Chris Connolly explained that materials testing amounted to a sort of quality control.
“It’s really a security blanket for us to make sure that the material being laid is as specified in terms of durability, strength, and longevity,” said Connolly, adding the amount of testing is directly tied to how the contractor sequences the workload.
“We, as a staff, put in an estimate of what that effort could be, and we’re just at the point where we’ve exhausted that estimate,” said Connolly, who could not recall the initial amount off the top of his head.
The additional $12,075 will also help cover material testing for a project extension approved earlier this summer.
Council approved the initial upgrades to Kenmount Road, including the installation of storm, sewer, curb, and gutter, as well as the addition of a third median turning lane, sidewalk, and multi-purpose trail, this spring at a cost of $2.8 million.