A water pipe made with an asbestos mixture is being replaced in Willow Point.
Council awarded the pipe project to Palladian Developments for $468,091 at a council meeting May 7.
Jason Hartley, the city’s capital works manager, said the pipe needs to be taken out because there has been a high rate of water main breaks in the area.
“The section of distribution water main on Dalton Road from Hilchey Road to 2317 Dalton Road is presently installed as a 150mm diameter asbestos concrete pipe system that has reached the end of its service life,” Hartley said in a report to council. “As a result, this section of water main has begun to experience a higher than normal rate of failure and has been identified as a high priority for renewal.”
While the bulk of the work will be done by Palladian for $468,091, the total cost of the project is $673,928 which includes asphalt paving which will be done by Tayco, engineering support by Highland Engineering, contract administration from the city’s capital works department, an $81,771 contingency in case unexpected costs arise during construction, plus $4,700 for miscellaneous items.
Coun. Larry Samson took exception to the later item.
“I see $4,700 for miscellaneous – city crews, line paint, advertising, there’s no lines on Dalton Road, there’s no line painting,” Samson said. “I guess my problem – and I think I’ve been fairly consistent on this million dollar project – (is) I felt it was unrealistic. When I was singled out in one of the local media as wanting to hire a whack of public workers because I felt the million dollar cost was too high (and) now I see it down to $468,000 it still leaves me to wonder. It still seems about $100,000 too high but I guess that’s up to the taxpayers whether they want to pay an extra $100,000 to hire a private company.”
Council did, however, already approve $1.05 million in the 2013 budget for the Dalton water main renewal project.
The difference, if it’s not used for unexpected surprises during construction, will be returned to its original source.
Substantial completion of the project, which will reduce emergency call-outs for the city for that section of water main, is expected by August 30, 2013.