By Mark Squibb/November 25, 2021
A contractor change order for remediation work on the Old Placentia Road pedestrian underpass will have the City of Mount Pearl paying by the bolt.
Councillor Mark Rice explained that the tender for the pedestrian walkway underpass remediation was awarded to Eric Taylor Ltd., on July 19 for the bid amount of $269,186, HST included. But the need for blind bolts has increased the cost of the project.
“The installation of these bolts will reinforce the structure in areas where existing bolts have extensively corroded,” explained Rice during last week’s public meeting. The recommend change order came to council at the behest of the City’s Infrastructure and Public Works committee.
Those bolts come at a cost of $39 per bolt. The 100 bolts the City requires will cost $4,485, HST included.
Councilor Jim Locke then asked whether the blind bolts would have been used in the original construction of the underpass, or something that needed to be added after the fact.
Director Gerry Antle explained that sometimes during construction you can access the back of the cover, but, in this case, the bolts were required on just one side, as the other was reinforced with fill.
He said typically the bolts are designed for one side access.
The Pearl followed up with Antle for further clarification, and Antle explained the bolts are used when you cannot easily access the other side of a material for fastening.Antle explained that because of fill on one side of the culvert, crews are unable to access that side, and need to use the blind bolts.
The pedestrian underpass is a larger culvert with fill behind it therefore crews are unable to access the other side.
Council voted unanimously to purchase the bolts.
