VALPARAISO | A miscalculation of the measurements for the Silhavy Road pathway project resulted in the city paying $86,537 more to complete the project than expected.
Project and Facility Management Director Don McGinley presented the city's Board of Public Works and Safety on Thursday with the final list of change orders for the project, which took about two years to complete. It involved constructing a pathway on Glendale Boulevard and on Silhavy from Glendale to LaPorte Avenue.
The biggest cost overrun was $48,738 for concrete needed to complete the 4-inch-thick path all the way to LaPorte. McGinley said the amount estimated by the engineering consultant R.W. Armstrong, of Indianapolis, was only enough to get from Glendale to the Canadian National tracks or Beech Street.
The design also omitted crossing more than 30 driveways, which the city decided was not acceptable and ordered the contractor Gariup Construction, of Gary, to do so the pathway was consistent. The cost of doing the path work on the driveway aprons was about $13,700, and an additional $3,920 was needed to complete the apron work for Levin Tire, which was underestimated by the consultant.
McGinley said about 30 percent of the cost increases was due to decisions made in the field because of circumstances occurring during construction that were not expected. The original contract totaled $617,687, and McGinley said, even with the additions, the final figure of $704,223 was below the second lowest bid price based on the original miscalculated amounts.
City Engineering Director Tim Burkman said the city contacted Armstrong several weeks ago about the errors and the company admitted its mistake. Burkman said the concrete price was a "per unit basis" with the city paying for only what was used so the quantities would have ended up the same.
Mayor Jon Costas called the project "tricky" because of all the driveways, the different elevations and the railroad crossing but said, in the end, "the taxpayers got what they paid for. The contractor got it done and done efficiently."
Please Wait…