Waverly Village officials will find out on Friday the exact amount of a pending change order threatening to dramatically increase the cost of a retaining wall repair, village trustees learned Tuesday.
Two change orders to the Cayuta Creek retaining wall repair project have already boosted the cost of the repair by over $50,000, Trustee Bill Keene told the board at its Tuesday workshop meeting. A third pending change order, the amount of which officials will learn when they meet with contractors Friday, is expected to further increase the cost, he said.
Initially, the project's contractor, LC Whitford Company of Wellsville, N.Y., bid $512,414 for the retaining wall project and another to repair a pedestrian bridge at Waverly Glen. Both structures were damaged in the Sept. 2011 flood. The Waverly Glen work was completed this past fall at a savings of about $4,000, Keene said.
However, two change orders to the retaining wall has boosted the total cost of the two projects to around $569,000, Keene said. Projecting the wall further into the stream to resolve a piling issue required the purchase of additional steel and other materials, and contractors also requested a change order of about $3,000 for additional materials, he said.
The pending change order relates to the installation of 12 grouted tiebacks to anchor the wall to a steel beam for reinforcement and stabilization.
Contractors originally said that about 20 bags of grout would be required to install each tieback, Keene said. However, far more grout - 172 bags, Keene said - was used in the installation of the first tieback.
Crews then used a different technique for the remaining tiebacks, reducing the amount of grout needed. However, the installation still required around 420 bags of grout, which costs between $50 and $60 per bag, Keene said.
Trustees will learn the amount of the pending change order at Friday's meeting with the project contractor and other officials, Keene said.
Village officials have submitted paperwork for the repairs to be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. However, trustees were concerned whether FEMA would cover the anticipated costs above and beyond the original bid or whether the village would be responsible for the overage.
"They keep assuring me that FEMA's going to pay this," Keene said. "I sure hope so, but I have my doubts."
Amanda Renko can be reached at (570) 888-9652; or email: arenko@thedailyreview.com.
