Victoria councillors held their noses and approved another $8.2 million for the Johnson Street Bridge replacement Thursday while warning against “innovation for innovation’s sake.”
“It’s true innovation is a really sexy word, but if it’s not something that adds value to a project, then it’s not something that should be leapt at,” Mayor Lisa Helps said.
“That’s my analysis of this project and also of the [Capital Regional District’s proposed] sewage project as well. Innovation for innovation’s sake is not useful.”
The additional money pushes the total estimated cost of the new bridge to $105.06 million — $42 million more than the original “fixed price” contract of $63 million.
Project director Jonathan Huggett sought the money for a variety of items, including: cost overrun mediation settlement, $2.4 million; contingency, $2.05 million (about seven per cent of the remaining $29 million to finish the project); electrical, construction materials and contaminated soil removal, $1.9 million; support costs, $751,000; insurance, $665,000; and legal costs, $375,000.
But there are more bills still to come. The latest expenditures do not cover the cost of fenders for the bridge piers or landscaping.
The project completion date also has been delayed again. The new bridge is now expected to be open to traffic in December 2017, rather than July 2017.
Critics of the project have long derided the bridge’s unique and untried design as the major factor behind massive cost overruns and completion delays.
Coun. Ben Isitt, who didn’t support the original bridge contract, called the events leading up to this stage “unfortunate,” as witnessed by the fact that 31Ú2 years after the contract was let, a contingency is being created.
“[It] points to the real deficiencies in how this project was approached and, I think, real problems with the previous administration in this city,” Isitt said.
He said he’s not a fan of the bridge design, which has added to the risk and cost of the project.
Coun. Geoff Young, citing a decision this week at the Capital Regional District to look at cutting-edge technologies for the processing of sewage sludge, said: “Sometimes old ways are the best ways and innovation is not always desirable.”
Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe echoed Young’s comments, saying some of the discussions she hears coming out of the CRD about sewage treatment are similar to discussions Victoria councillors had about the bridge.
“We had an opportunity to build what was sort of an off-the-shelf type of bridge that has been done everywhere and has been proven,” she said.
Meanwhile, councillors received reassurances from Keith Griesing, of Hardesty & Hanover, project manager supervising steel fabrication and design in China, that while the learning curve has been steep and there are ongoing concerns, a quality product will be delivered.
Jiangsu Zhongtai Steel Structure Co. Ltd. is making steel for the bridge. Fabrication was halted in July 2014 after inspections found the steel was not being built to design and there were significant flaws, including defective welds.
Hardesty & Hanover attributed many of the issues to substandard workmanship or a misunderstanding of the reference standard by the fabricator.
“They’re not used to working at these standards because it’s not their primary clients. They’re growing into this North American market,” Griesing said.
