Two years and three months after deferring a $726,000 change order on the New River Channel Improvement project, East Ascension Drainage Commission declared it “substantially complete” and approved a change in the amount of $374,301. The new number represents an 8% increase from the original contract amount ($4,816,000).
“Obviously, we do not feel like Boone (Services, LLC) is going to agree to that,” cautioned Ron Savoy, Director of Drainage Capital Projects for the parish.
On February 6, 2024, the commission, comprised of the entire 11-member Ascension Parish Council seated Ex Officio, declined to approve a $726,000 change order for the already substantially complete project. The original contract was not awarded to Boone Services, LLC, but the low bidder (Bridging the Gap, LLC) would not or could not perform, so Boone got the job on November 29, 2021.
A 15% increase was too much for commissioners to swallow 27 months ago when it tasked the project engineer, H. Davis Cole, with investigating the cause and report his findings at an unspecified date. Cole got stuck in traffic last night, appearing just before adjournment and adding little to the deliberation of the agenda items (it rained a lot in 2022 was the gist of his contributions).
Tuesday’s agenda included:
(6) GENERAL BUSINESS
a. Approval of Change Order No. 3 for the New River Dredging Project, adding 208 days to the contract time and increasing the contract value by an additional $374,301.69, bringing the new contract total to $5,242,911.69. (Davis Cole, Engineer)
b. Approval of substantial completion of the New River Dredging Project. (Davis Cole, Engineer)
It was left to Ron Savoy to explain.
“At no time did the contract ever go over budget,” he said, until the last invoice included “quantities of excavation which went over somewhat. “At that point we knew we needed a change order and asked Boone to present (one). That took several months.
It came to $726,000. We were blown away by that,” Savoy noted.
Unexpected excavation was not included in a requisite “post-project survey” and H. Davis Cole had to review “truck tickets” to come up with the current change order amount. Legal advised approval of the reduced change order and substantial completion.
It remains to be seen if Boone Services, LLC agrees.
Included in the February 6, 2024 EA Drainage Meeting Packet:
NAME OF PROJECT: NEW RIVER CHANNEL IMPROVEMENTS
PROJECT NUMBER: EAD15004
ENGINEER: H. Davis Cole & Associates, LLC
CONTRACT Amount Add to the Contract amount the sum of $726,000.10
Time for Completion Add to the Contract Time: 208 Days.
The New Date for Completion is 6 February 2024
ORIGINAL CONTRACT AMOUNT: $4,816,000.00
Previous Additions $52,610
Previous Deductions $0.00
Net Amount Prior to this Change $4,868,610.00
Amount of This Change … $726,000.10
CONTRACT AMOUNT TO DATE … $5,594,610.10
Drainage Excavation to actual quantities
DESCRIPTION: Additional “over” excavation was required to remove soft soils throughout the entire reach of New River Channel in areas where installation of embankment fill was required to achieve a maintainable slope.
JUSTIFICATION: To prevent failure of the embankment, the additional “over excavation” was required to remove soft materials to provide a stable base for the placement of new embankment material.
BID QUANTITY: 52,000 CY
ACTUAL QUANTITY: 72,918 CY
ADDITIONAL COST: $648,458.00
ADDITIONAL DAYS: 208
Supporting documents included in last night’s meeting packet state:
SCOPE OF CHANGES: Balancing Change Order to record actual quantities utilized vs. quantities bid. Addition of sign replacements per owner requests
JUSTIFICATION FOR CHANGES: The original as-bid quantities were estimated based upon information know prior to the bid. Upon execution of the work, quantities deviate from what was estimated based upon actual field conditions encountered on site.
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