By Mark Squibb/August 26, 2022
The City of Mount Pearl, during this week’s public meeting, awarded a $7 million contract to Dexter Construction Company Ltd., for the upgrading of a portion of Farrell Drive.
Upgrades include water, sanitary/storm sewer, asphalt, curb, and sidewalk replacement along Farrell Drive between Holden Street and Evans Place.
“The goal of this project is a complete reconstruction of Farrell Drive (approximately from Holden Street to Evans Place) and replacement of all infrastructure within the limits of the property right-of-way,” said councillor Mark Rice. “This includes all design, supply of construction materials, removal of existing infrastructure, and construction of new.”
Rice went on to say that the benefit of a design-build is that, unlike the traditional approval in which the City would enter separate agreements with both a consultant and a contractor, the City will enter into an agreement with just a design-builder.
“This leads to a more efficient project as the contractor responsible for construction is also responsible for the design of the project,” said Rice. “Overall, the design-build approach to projects has been beneficial to the City.”
Council voted unanimously to award the contract to Dexter for the bid mount of $7,096,765, HST included.
“This is a big piece of work,” said councillor Jim Locke. “This is quite a piece of infrastructure. I’m delighted with the design-build approach, we successfully used that on some other street work, and also the Campia Gymnastics project on Old Placentia Road, and it worked very well. I found it very efficient, it limited our change orders, allowed us to control our budgets a little better.”
Locke then asked about the beginning and end dates for the project.
Director of Infrastructure and Public Works Gerry Antle explained that before shovels go in the ground, a design will be submitted to the City for review.
The design process alone, said Antle, could take several months. He added that depending on the reviews, certain parts of construction may start sooner than later.
“Again, that’s the benefit of the design-build, you can do certain aspects as we approach different parts of the work,” said Antle, who noted the overall timeframe of the project is about two years.
“That may be optimistic, because it depends on what we find when we open up the ground, as well as weather conditions,” he added.
Deputy Mayor Nicole Kieley asked for further details on the project, especially as it relates to the City’s asset management plan.
Antle explained that this particular section of Farrell Drive is at the end of its service life (which is up to 75 years.) Antle also noted the work will be designed with climate change in mind.
The request for proposals closed on June 8, and the City received two bids.
