Jackson water-main work continues on; price jumps after smaller pipe found than what records showed

One phase of the water-main replacement project in Jackson will cost more than originally thought, after workers discovered another main that needed to be replaced, officials said at a recent board of aldermen meeting.

The original contract had to be amended when a main thought to be six inches turned out to be only two, officials said.

Jackson voters approved an $11.5 million bond issue approved in August 2015 to replace undersized water mains across the city.

Current water mains measuring two and four inches will be upgraded to six- and eight-inch mains with wider lines, according to city officials.

The smaller mains can�t handle the water pressure load required by a city Jackson�s size, and officials are working to improve infrastructure ahead of the growing population.

The project is being done in phases. Phase 1A included West Madison Street, South Russell Street, Cecile Drive, Alvin Street, Dorothy Drive, West Main Street, North Russell Street, West Adams Street, South Bast Street and South Union Avenue.

That work was performed by Robertson Inc. Bridge and Grading Division and Persons and Son Inc., both of Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

The first phase of the project encountered numerous delays and setbacks, and work on the next phase was instead performed by Jokerst Inc. of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri.

Phase 1B work began in June 2017, and included mains in uptown Jackson.

Mains were replaced under East Madison Street, South Hope Street and North Farmington Road, Greensferry Road, East Jefferson Street, South Ohio Street and Pepper Alley.

It was under Pepper Alley the problem accounting for the bulk of the added expense was discovered, said Lisa Fennewald of Horner & Shifrin of St. Louis, the lead contractor on the project, at the regular meeting of the board of aldermen May 21.

Fennewald said six of the streets in question ended up costing less because of field change orders and quantity adjustments, and four streets cost more.

The change order amount was about $71,000, according to a May 21 letter from city engineer Clint Brown.

That included both additions and subtractions to the work performed, the letter stated.

Previous change orders amounted to about $26,000, for a total increase to the contract of about $97,000.

The bulk of the final change order came from two design changes, Fennewald said: moving a main on East Adams and adding an unplanned main replacement.

On East Adams, a water main was moved from its designed location under the sidewalk to under the street to avoid a stone retaining wall, Fennewald said.

But the main under Pepper Alley posed a problem, Fennewald said.

City records had indicated the main was already six inches, but �we found it was two inches,� she said.

They went ahead with replacing the main, she said, since the contractor was doing good work for a good price, the contract was in place, and replacing the main at a later date would have added cost.

�We�ve removed almost all two-inch mains in the city,� Fennewald said. �That�s the point of the three-year project.�

Each of the two projects added about $60,000 to the total cost, or about 12 percent, Fennewald said.

About $33,000 in minor quantity reductions and substitutions offset some of that amount, according to city documents.

The change order won�t be paid until the work is finished, Brown said.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

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