The rebuild of Dracup South has hit a roadblock. Completion of the project has been delayed until 2017 due to quality issues with the supplied roadbed gravel. The road will be temporarily re-opened later this month with a gravel surface until it can completed with the planned concrete surface in the spring.
The problem comes down to water retention, explains Lonnie Kaal, City Manager. Testing showed that the gravel bed put down would retain too much water, a big issue in an increasingly wet city. Since they want this road to last 40-50 years, they need to build it properly, Kaal says.
“We are glad our project manager caught the problem, because it is important to build for quality with lasting results.”
The project had already been three weeks behind due to the weather, but without the issues with the roadbed the project would have been completed at the end of September. Now, they are looking at spring to complete the project with concrete.
While there has been testing through the process, Kaal says, the problem was that the material was tested on site, and the base material was not of the same quality as the material tested.
In the short term, gravel will be replaced with new material, and the road will be opened with a gravel surface for the winter. Kaal says that since the local contractor who supplied the product has agreed to fix the problem, there will be a minimal impact to taxpayers, but not a nonexistant one, given the increased cost of maintenance for a gravel surface over the winter.
“It’s less than it would have been than if we would have tried with the concrete, since it would have had significant premiums with the temperatures and calling that contractor back... Our best guess is that the added cost of maintenance will be in the $50,000 range, but it’s not going to be in the $300,000 range that it could have been.”
The city expects that the street will be open with the temporary gravel surface by October 21, though Kaal says that they hope that will happen earlier. They expect that work will begin on October 11, given the amount of rain in the forecast for this week. The gravel surface can be re-used on other projects in the spring.
Mayor Bob Maloney says that council is disappointed that the project is not complete, and while people could understand the weather delays, they still wanted the roadway open and complete as soon as possible.
“It was a sleepless weekend for a lot of people within administration for the city and on city council as well. We are deeply disappointed, the work should have been completed, with all of the tie-ins, by last Friday.”
Maloney says while disappointed by the delay, they are glad they found the problem.
“Once the problem is buried in concrete, you’re not going to see it until you have failures. We’re very pleased that did happen, and the problem was found.”
