The Knox Wastewater Treatment Plant project has officially been extended by 56 days, but not without some concerns from the board of works. Board members approved the extension during a special meeting Tuesday.
Thieneman Construction Project Manager Matt McCoy said part of the reason more time was needed was the addition of an access hatch that wasn’t in the original design. “The pre-cast was already fabricated at the time that we talked about creating an access hatch, so they had to go back and they had to cast a new section of pre-cast,” he explained. “The access hatch itself is a four-week lead time. Once that change order was approved and the submittals were approved, that’s when that four weeks starts. So literally, a week ago, was when that four weeks starts, so we won’t see the access hatch until well past the original substantial completion date.”
But Mayor Dennis Estok once again noted that there have been several days when no one was working. “The thing is, you can’t get an order to proceed in December and then screw around until February or something to start moving equipment in or whatever, and I know this winter wasn’t that bad of a winter,” Estok said. “You’re 20 foot in the hole. You could’ve been doing concrete work. They do it all the time. You guys could’ve had that done, and then it’d have been a lot easier to come in and say delay of the equipment or the COVID or whatever.”
Engineer Steve Henschen with Jones Petrie Rafinski said that there was no activity on the site for about 65 days after the notice to proceed was signed. But McCoy said Thieneman was busy with behind-the-scenes work, like issuing contracts and ordering materials.
Board Member Steve Dodge also asked if the company would help pay for any environmental fines the city would pick up, if the current equipment fails during the extension. But Henschen was confident that the Indiana Department of Environmental Management wouldn’t fine the city, if it’s aware that improvements are underway.
Tuesday’s approval moves the substantial completion date from next Monday to September 28. McCoy promised city officials that they’ll see an increase in manpower at the site starting next week.
