HURON COUNTY – County council awarded several contracts for its 2023 roads, bridges, and culverts construction at the April 26 regular meeting.
Foresters Bridge
Council awarded the Foresters Bridge rehabilitation project (County Road 31, 2.1km north of Highway 8) to McLean Taylor Construction Ltd, St. Mary’s, for $734,937.
The structure is a 150-metre long, five-span concrete girder bridge over the Maitland River, built in 1984 by the county.
The tendered amount recommended for the award includes a $30,000 contingency allowance which may not be required.
This tender came in under budget by $273,288.
BM Ross and Associates conducted the engineering consultation for the rehabilitation in 2021. Construction was anticipated in 2022 but pushed to 2023.
BM Ross reported the current replacement value of the structure is $5,956,704. Forster’s Bridge is estimated to be the second most expensive bridge in the county’s inventory. Investing capital funding early in the bridge’s expected life will help it to achieve the 75-year design life and possibly longer.
Boundary Bridge 23
Council awarded the Boundary Bridge 23 replacement project (Road 183, approximately 200 metres south of Chiselhurst Road) to Kurtis Smith Excavating Inc. of Brussels for $628,877.
The structure is a 7.8-metre long, single-span bridge consisting of cast-in-place concrete abutments and a precast T-beam superstructure built in 1961 by the county.
The bridge traverses Shephard Creek Drainage Works and is located on the boundary of Huron East and West Perth.
This project’s engineering, contract administration, and site inspection were awarded to R.J. Burnside and Associates Ltd. and included in the 2022 capital budget. As a result, the 2022 funding was carried forward into 2023.
This bridge replacement project will be a partnership between the County of Huron and the Municipality of West Perth, each funding 50 per cent of the engineering and construction costs.
Huron County and the Municipality of West Perth public works departments have budgeted for this project as part of their 2023 capital budgets. However, the Municipality of West Perth for engineering or construction is not shown in the Huron County 2023 capital budget. Each owner will be billed independently for 50 per cent of the engineering and construction costs.
The expected county cost to complete this tender, including provisional items and not including tax, is $322,472. The tender cost being significantly lower than the budgeted value can be attributed to competitive bidding and post-COVID conditions. In addition, the supply, delivery, and installation of the precast concrete rigid frame also contributed approximately $100,000 in savings from the engineer’s estimate.
This project is fully funded by Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund (OCIF) for $322,472 and is applied to eligible expenses. This is approximately $177,529 under what has been budgeted for this project in OCIF. Therefore, with the favourable tender results, the additional OCIF budget will be available as carry forward to support future projects.
Culvert relining County Road 86
County council awarded the contract for relining culvert 86-02.4 (County Road 86, approximately 700 metres east of Laurier Line) to VanDriel Excavating Inc. of Clinton for $545,452, including net applicable taxes.
The structure is a cast-in-place concrete arch culvert with a span and rise of 7.3 metres and 3.66 metres, respectively, built in 1930. The culvert conveys the flow of Boyd Creek Municipal Drain. It is located on the boundary of Huron County and Bruce County.
Engineering, site inspection, and contract administration completed by R.J. Burnside.
The cost of this relining will be shared between Huron and Bruce counties. The expected Huron County cost to complete this tender, including provisional items and net HST, is $283,907. This is approximately $246,093 under the budgeted amount. In addition, the supply, delivery, and installation of the polymer-coated culvert liner contributed roughly $140,000 in savings from the engineer’s estimate.
The anticipated surplus for this project may fund other 2023 capital projects that are over budget.
Bridge Crew 2023 projects
The county received one bid from Lavis Contracting Co. Ltd, of Clinton, for $192,941.43. The tendered amount recommended for the award includes a $30,000 contingency allowance, which may not be required.
The county’s public works department recommends paving two separate bridge decks and approaches that the Huron County Bridge Crew is rehabilitating this upcoming summer. This contract also includes patching on County Road 20 (Belgrave Road) in two locations.
The bridge and patching locations are as follows:
– Cunningham’s Bridge on County Road 16 (Newry Road) is a scheduled bridge crew project for 2023. Built in 1993 and last rehabilitated in 2017.
– Trick’s Creek Bridge on County Road 13 (Bayfield Road) is the second bridge crew rehabilitation project for 2023. This bridge was built in 1964 and last rehabilitated in 2001 with concrete patches, new waterproofing, and hot mix asphalt. This summer’s rehabilitation will include new barriers, abutment concrete patching, new hot mix asphalt, and waterproofing to extend the structure’s service life by approximately fourteen years.
County Road 20 (Belgrave Road) requires hot mix asphalt patches in two locations. These patches are needed to address deficiencies in this area, including pavement distortion and significant cracking, before pavement rehabilitation, which is not scheduled until 2031.
Pre-Shoulder Gravel County Road 83
County awarded the contract for pre-shoulder and after-paving supports for the county’s capital paving project on County Road 83 from Highway 21 to Airport Line to McCann Redi-Mix Inc of Dashwood for $206,568.26.
The tendered amount reflects an average cost of $16.25 per tonne of material. In 2022, the county paid an average of $9.50 per tonne of material. This reflects an approximately 71 per cent increase from last year’s unit rates.
This project shows a deficit of -$34,572.40. The deficit for shouldering is proposed to be funded using the anticipated surplus on the County Road 83 paving project.
Cory Bilyea, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Wingham Advance Times