The Hibbing Public Utilities Commission on Aug. 12 approved a not-to-exceed $125,000 change order for work at 20 Third Street to repair deteriorated steam vaults and restore pavement.
Staff described field conditions as worse than anticipated: multiple steam vaults were found in poor condition, some assembled from different contractors and with irregular backfill or thin concrete that collapsed during rains. Because the final quantities for concrete and restoration were not determined at the time of the meeting, the change order was presented as a not-to-exceed authorization to allow contractors to proceed before full measurement is available.
"Every single vault that we dug into was put together by a different contractor… some of them used the actual clay sections to backfill the concrete… when we did get some of the rain, it actually collapsed some of the tunnels," a project representative said, describing the degraded vault conditions and the need for additional restoration.
The commission approved the change order by voice vote. Staff said in future steam vault concrete work they will include allowances for saw cutting and pavement restoration in bid packages to reduce the need for later change orders.
Why this matters: The work is adjacent to a school and the commission said timing matters as the school year approaches; the authorization allows contractors to complete necessary repairs and pavement restoration while minimizing schedule delays.
Next steps: Staff and contractors will proceed with the work within the approved not-to-exceed amount and later present final costs when quantities are measured.