By Craig Westcott/February 24, 2022
The City has approved a request from contractor Eric Taylor Limited to extend the construction time on repairs to a walkway and underpass on Old Placentia Road.
The CBS company was awarded the $269,185 contract in July last year with completion scheduled before the end of the construction season.
However, as councillor Mark Rice, who co-chairs the infrastructure and public works committee pointed out, delays in receiving supplies caused by the pandemic meant the work could not be done on time.
"So, the contractor submitted a request for a change order... which sees the work on this project recommence on June 1, 2022 and will be substantially complete within 51 days of the start date," Rice said. "Any measures required during the extension period such as bracing, repairs, will be the responsibility of the contractor and there will be no cost to the City."
Rice said his committee recommended approval of the extension and so he was making the motion for council to do so.
"This is a rare change order," allowed Mayor Dave Aker, referring to Rice’s statement that it means no extra cost for the City. “There are no financial issues here, or is there?"
Infrastructure and public works director Gerry Antle said there is no financial cost to the city as a result of the delay.
“If there is a cost, it is the result of some work that might possibly be done on the underpass during this period of extension,” Antle said. “It would be borne by the contractor. In this case here it's a reasonable request to extend the duration of the work until this construction season that is forthcoming."
That led Aker to ask why the City isn't similarly protected from extra costs in other public works projects that happen to go over schedule.
"Is that primarily because this is more of a fixed price contract?" said Aker.
"You're correct," replied director Antle. "Much of the unit priced civil works projects, unless we actually tender them as multi-year – some of the projects in the city actually do go into double years or triple years even and the schedule is build accordingly – the schedule for this project was for the duration that we anticipated. As a result of some challenges with the contractor in this case, they couldn't complete it in the fall season, so rather than bear the challenge of winter and the heating that comes with concrete, the request was to continue into the next year."
That led councillor Jim Locke to ask Antle if there will be lane closures during the work.
Antle admitted that lane closures are expected once construction resumes, in order to allow the work to continue underneath the road. "Traffic is required to be diverted for two reasons," Antle explained, “for safety as well as for the concrete to cure once it's placed. So, we'll be diverting traffic from one side of Old Placentia to the other side and then returning it once it's passed that construction zone. And then once we get (at) the other half, we'll move it to the other side."
Locke said he was curious about that because with the 51-day completion schedule, work will continue into the third week of July and he was concerned that it not drag on longer and impact traffic when schools reopen in September.
The motion to approve the change order passed unanimously.