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Commission approves $183,237 change order for Camp Street utility relocation; engineers cite sewer connections and bedrock
Summary
The commission approved a second and final change order of $183,237.12 for the Camp Street and West Forest Drive utility relocation project, citing unexpected multiple sewer laterals and road base damage from bedrock excavation as primary causes.
The Sandusky City Commission on Aug. 11 approved the second and final change order for the Camp Street and West Forest Drive utility relocation project, adding $183,237.12 to the contract for Spear Brothers Inc.
City engineering staff told commissioners the largest drivers of the change order were unexpected field conditions: multiple sewer lateral connections beneath some buildings that required re-routing and heavier-than-anticipated damage to the road base when crews encountered bedrock during excavation.
Why it matters: The change order affects project accounting for a multi-phase utility relocation and will reduce unused grant funds available for the next phase. Engineering staff said they will apply remaining U.S. EPA funds to future work.
Engineering staff summarized the field decisions: rather than sending plumbers into crawlspaces to reconnect numerous laterals, crews routed service lines around houses to the front, which the city said reduced time and likely cost compared with the alternate approach. Staff also said the contractor did not charge for time spent breaking bedrock but that the vibration damaged the road base and required additional base and concrete repairs.
“Originally, we were supposed to have a plumber go into the crawl space of each of these buildings,” the city engineer said. “As we got into it, we found that some of the buildings had 3 or 4 sewer connections…so there was a lot of extra work.”
Commissioners discussed change orders as a normal part of construction and emphasized maintaining fair relationships with contractors to keep reliable bids. Commissioners also noted the project has about $435,813.35 in remaining EPA funds to apply to the next phase.
Decision vs. discussion: The formal decision was to adopt the ordinance authorizing the final change order and to take immediate effect under the charter. Discussion covered causes, contractor performance, and the plan to apply remaining federal funding to the next project phase.
Next steps: Staff said they will bring the next phase for permission to bid and will continue to monitor quantities and field conditions to limit future overruns.
