Orange County approves $50,000 supplemental bond for airport sewer fix after unexpected soils

The Physical Services Committee approved a supplemental appropriation of $50,000 in bonding for capital project #624 to complete a sewer installation at the Orange County Airport after contractors encountered unusually poor soils that required rerouting and additional work.

Eric Dinega, presenting for the Department of Public Works, said crews hit "some of the worst soils I've probably ever seen" during the sewer trenching. He described material that behaved like jelly when disturbed and required additional engineering, excavation and disposal. "We rerouted the shoreline to properly get it installed," he said, noting the change raised costs and prompted the request for additional funds.

Nut graf: County officials said the sewer line work is part of airport infrastructure improvements that will eliminate septic systems and enable future private investment such as hangar construction. The project is nearly complete but the change-order costs require a small supplemental appropriation to finish construction.

Dinega said the soil was judged a discovery condition and the team brought additional engineers in to avoid an "endless pit." They altered the route to avoid the worst material and recorded credits for work already completed on the original alignment. Committee members asked whether geotechnical testing had been done previously; staff said borings had not been done for this sewer scope but that lessons learned prompted the county to commission borings for the upcoming water project route.

The committee voted in favor of the $50,000 bonding increase by voice vote. The supplemental appropriation will be added to the existing airport capital project to close out the sewer installation and support the airport's expansion plans.

Ending: Staff said the additional testing and revised routing will inform future airport projects and that the county will perform more borings for later phases to avoid similar conditions.