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Ellicott City approves $158,925 change order for South Muscogee bridge work
Summary
Council approved Change Order No. 4 for $158,925.12 on the South Muscogee Improvement Project after staff and the project inspector described unforeseen sewer and utility conflicts at bridge work sites; funding will come from bond proceeds.
Ellicott City Council on Thursday approved Change Order No. 4 in the amount of $158,925.12 for the South Muscogee Improvement Project, council members said during a special meeting.
City staff and the project inspector told councilors the extra cost covers unanticipated work at two bridge locations, including hand excavation and design revisions needed after crews uncovered an AT&T duct bank and an old sewer line. Staff said bond proceeds will fund the change order and that the adjustment should not affect other planned street projects unless additional large cost increases arise.
Staff member Ray Hammonds described the change order as necessary because of “the additional work and labor that's having to be done on the bridge area, the unforeseen situation that we had with the sewer, with the surveys, and the delays that we've had there.” Aaron Beats, the on-site inspector with Hudson Prince, said crews discovered an AT&T duct package while digging and adjusted bridge design to avoid relocating the lines. “It's basically several, fiber and copper lines in a concrete box running there on that west side that we weren't aware of,” Beats said, adding that asking AT&T to move the duct bank would have caused months of delay.
Hammonds said the sewer under Bridge A required extensive hand work after crews found the line sitting on top of concrete rather than buried as expected. “We had thought several different things ... we thought it was a clay line at first, then we thought it was a steel line. ... Then we found out it was basically just sitting on top of the concrete, and it's an old line,” Hammonds said.
City Administrator Taylor Kinghorn told the council the change order will be funded from bond proceeds. “There is some money available within the bond to do so,” Kinghorn said, and added staff will be conservative with the remaining bond funds because the city expects to bid two major street projects in the coming 12 months (Allen Road and Grand Avenue).
Councilors moved and seconded a motion to approve the change order. The roll-call vote recorded Councilor Tom Brown, Councilor Tom Baker and Councilor Tom Clafey voting yes; the motion carried.
Council and staff also said they plan to complete long stretches of asphalt and remaining driveways together after the bridge work, rather than paving in separate sections, to ensure a smooth final riding surface. Officials noted a small number of driveways will need to be redone because initial tests failed.
The change order references Change Order No. 4 for the South Muscogee Improvement Project; additional amendments or future change orders were not expected “to this magnitude,” staff said, though they did not rule out smaller adjustments as remaining work progresses.
