Bedford sewer expansion runs into unexpected costs

The Bedford Board of Works and Safety approved about $260,000 in emergency spending, change orders and invoices for the Spider Creek Storage Project last month.

The special meeting on July 26 at the Bedford City Concourse includes invoices for things the manufacturer neglected to include in its original plans, which the city approved for the project, and emergency measures to replace the lining on a damaged sewer pipe on 16th Street.

Changes needed to the Spider Creek project included an overflow pipe, an additional storage tank, and a missing staircase that neither the manufacturer nor the city noticed at the planning stages. In attendance were the city’s Board of Works and Safety members, Mayor Sam Craig, Misty Adams, utilities manager; Jason Buck of Lochmueller Group; Judy Carlisle, council president; Greg Pullman, the city’s attorney, and Billie Tumey, the clerk/treasurer.

“On the drawings for the Spider Creek unit, we put a 30-inch flange to manage overflow water,” said Adams. “There are three sensors on the tank that will tell us that the tank is full. We’re asking to add this overflow pipe in case the other tanks are filled up.”

Adams explained the overflow pipe would be a backup measure in case the three sensors in the main tank do not activate to turn off the water flow. The flange is 30 inches and covers a panel that includes the sensors that trigger the automatic shut off.

“[The overflow pipe] is an extra precaution to make sure that there isn’t damage to the tank,” said Adams. The board approved the overflow pipe for the storage tank for $34,248.41.

The next thing the board approved was an additional staircase for the storage tank for $20,149.41. “The manufacturer asked for a staircase that would be one set of stairs, a landing, another staircase, and then, of course, a stop at the top of the staircase,” said Adams. “For some odd reason, the tank manufacturer did not provide a quote for the bottom of the landing of those stairs. Of course, we need those stairs. I’m not sure what happened at the manufacturer, but we are asking for a change order.”

Craig asked if there was any reason the manufacturer provided for why they failed to provide the details of the staircase. Jason Buck of the Lochmueller Group, the third-party firm working with Reynolds Construction, said Reynolds noticed the missing staircase first and asked the manufacturer about it.

Finally, Craig asked for approval for the Lochmueller Group’s two invoices to reimburse Reynolds Construction for their work on the trail and Spider Creek Bridge inspections and blasting, totaling $22,565.89 and $17,466.33, respectively.

“Both of these invoices are for the bridge inspection,” said Craig, who then asked Adams to explain the unique situation regarding blasting the Spider Creek Bridge.

“This was a one-of-a-kind situation for INDOT [Indiana Department of Transportation]. (They) did not have in place procedures because the 16th Street Bridge was within 500 feet of the blasting radius for the Spider Creek Bridge,” Adams said.

It was not because of a zoning issue.

INDOT has issued many blasting permits in the past with no problem, Adams said. When the city of Bedford utilities department filed for the blasting permits, INDOT came up with guidelines for the department. “One of those guidelines was that there needed to be a third party there for inspections during the blasting, and depending on the size of the blasting, that party would have to do the blasting paperwork,” said Adams.

Both Adams and the Reynolds Construction firm were not aware of those missing guidelines because a situation like this one is rare. “There’s a list of 13 companies that do these third-party bridge inspections,” Adams said, adding Lochmueller came up as the third-party inspection group.

The final action was an emergency authorization to repair sewer lines on 16th Street. Adams said the city had previously stabilized part of the line and the utility department did not want to "dig in 16th Street anymore than we are right now." The line is corroded and the lining will help protect the pipe from further damage.

Adams said the city spends $150,000 a year on sewer lining. “We did not plan on doing any more lining this year since we did (two years' worth) last year, but with this being an emergency, we want to go ahead and get that done.”

The pipe that Inliner Solutions will supply — the only firm that is able to manage a line of this size — will cost $167,665. “There may be some heavy cleaning, there may be some taps that have to be cut out and some mobilization,” Adams said. The lining is made from a concrete mixture and should last another two years.

Craig and the council approved the spending to continue work on the 16th Street sewer line that is currently being fitted for the GM connection from the Bedford Casting plant out to Spider Creek and the 16th Street project.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bedford sewer expansion runs into unexpected costs