Commission approves $1.44 million change order for Oak Grove emergency sewer repairs

Fall River City Civil Commission members voted on June 3 to approve change order No. 5 for emergency sewer work on Oak Grove Avenue, awarding roughly $1,438,000 to Bisco Contracting to complete unanticipated sewer replacement and related restoration.

The change order covers remediation discovered during water-main and roadway reconstruction where deep, degraded sewer pipe (14–24 feet deep in places) was discovered after pavement was ground for reconstruction. Paul (staff member) told the commission the trench conditions included ledge, voids under pavement and sections of pipe that had partially collapsed or cracked. "As we ran down the line, the pipe looked like these sections — partially collapsed and egg-shaped," Paul said during his presentation.

The action follows an earlier sewer-related change order of about $2,157,000; Paul said the combination of the prior change order and the newly approved $1,438,000 increases the sewer-related work on the Oak Grove portion to about $3.05 million. The larger water-main replacement contract that covered multiple streets in the city was described as a roughly $17 million project for water work and pavement across several corridors.

Why it matters: commissioners pressed for clearer preconstruction inspections after large unforeseen costs surfaced. One commissioner said more engineering and subsurface inspection during design could reduce surprises and overall contractor overhead. "Engineering is very important," a commissioner said during debate, urging that future phases include camera inspections and other scoping in advance.

Details and debate: Paul told the commission that the water-main work initially did not include a planned sewer inspection on the Oak Grove section because that segment was added later to the water contract; the contractor encountered voids after grinding the pavement. Paul said crews responded quickly to avoid work stoppage and to limit additional delay costs. He explained practical constraints: the contractor already had equipment and access, and bringing a new contractor midproject could complicate responsibility for later settlements or pavement failure.

Commission members questioned whether additional upfront camera inspections, test holes or geotechnical scoping could have revealed the deteriorated sewer earlier. Paul said some inspection was done elsewhere in the project but that the added section had not been camera-inspected in design because it was added after the original design work. He described notable field challenges: close proximity of the water main to the sewer, ledge that forced trench adjustments and sections where workers had to temporarily remove and reinstall water pipes for safe sewer work.

Formal action: A motion to approve change order No. 5 (Oak Grove emergency sewer replacement) was made and seconded; the commission voted in favor and the motion passed.

What comes next: Paul told commissioners the temporary pavement lifts installed will be followed by an intermediate lift and a final top coat in a later seasonal paving operation to allow settlement before final paving. Commissioners asked staff to present a project-level timeline and a clearer map of phases for the entire North End sewer work at a future meeting so members can follow progress and better anticipate construction impacts.

Commission procedural note: The commission approved the change order by motion; no roll-call tally was recorded in the meeting minutes.