The City of Victoria and the design and construction companies building the new Johnson Street Bridge are going to mediation to resolve a cost overruns dispute.
Total project cost has been projected at $92.8 million.
But PCL Construction says it needs $7.9 million more than the $62.9 million that has been budgeted for its work, plus an additional 51Ú2 months to complete the work, said city spokeswoman Katie Hamilton.
Designer consultant MMM Group and sub-consultant Hardesty Hanover are asking for $840,000 more, and have identified about $1.55 million in further costs that they consider to be outside their contracted commitments.
The companies have submitted “change orders” for the higher amounts.
“Change order requests are not unusual in large projects of this nature and are the typical mechanism for contractors to present potential changes,” Hamilton said. “The city has not agreed to any changes, and these requests will be the focus of mediation.”
The three parties will share the cost of mediation. Victoria has not used a mediator for construction projects in the recent past, Hamilton said.
No schedule for mediation has been confirmed.
The bridge also faces delays because engineers hired by MMM and PCL have found that steel parts fabricated by a company in China did not meet specifications.
“The steel fabricator, ZTSS Bridge, has taken steps to provide greater project oversight and has indicated that they will voluntarily be redoing steel fabrication for certain components of the bridge. Further work is still underway to assess other aspects of steel fabrication to ensure it meets the highest quality and outlined safety specifications,” Hamilton said.
“Further analysis of all steel fabrication continues. However, it is the two ring sections that are being redone,” she said. “The fabricator has ordered new steel and it is expected to arrive within the month.”
PCL ordered a stop to fabrication of bridge steel in July 22 after problems were spotted.
Victoria had no control over where steel would be fabricated for the Johnson Street Bridge because Ottawa provided $37.5 million on condition that all contracts meet Canada’s Agreement on Internal Trade.
That left PCL to decide where to get the steel, Mayor Dean Fortin has said. He noted that 80 per cent of bridge funding is going to Canadian companies.
The bridge structure was originally contracted to be ready in July 2015. Revised dates will be announced in the coming weeks, Hamilton said.
As of July, PCL had invoiced the city $14.7 million for work, including $1.74 million in prepayment for steel fabrication, a staff report said.
