Project to Link Water Mains
Prince George, B.C. – IDL contractors of Prince George has been given the contract to install a connector watermain between the PW660 and the PW605 well and pumphouse facilities in the City.
IDL was the only company to submit a bid for the project, and pegged its cost at $2,182,802.00.
Construction of the connector will create a back up should one well, or the other, develop problems, water can be supplied via the connector to the areas impacted by any shutdown of the other well.
The project will result in temporary shutdowns of the water system as the connector work will need to cut into the trunk mains at both pumping stations.
The need for this project was stressed during a recent presentation to Council on the proximity of CN rail lines to two wells. Should there be a derailment and dangerous chemicals leaked into the soil, the aquifer from which the wells draw their water, could be negatively impacted. It was stressed that a connector would create redundancy that could act as back up in the event of any negative impact on one well or the other.
The work is expected to take place from June to end of October. The long construction period has been set to accommodate any stoppages caused by archeological finds or design changes to accommodate environmentally sensitive areas.
Comments
Must be getting harder and harder to find projects that we can spend money on.
I wonder why CN isn’t paying some of the cost when it’s their trains that cause the risk to the city water supply. I think it’s wasted money because if the aquifer is contaminated it won’t take long to spread throughout the aquifer one would think….
A 2 million dollar contract only attracts one bidder? Here I thought we were living in a depressed economy!
I can think of a number of contractors who should have submitted bids, wonder what happened?
It’s called working for the City with their ridiculously restrictive contract language but enormously vague terms of reference. Only contractors that have been around the block a few times, and know how to pad their bids with a ‘City of Prince George contingency allowance’, (like IDL) will take on the work.
Try following a City of Prince George tender on BC Bid – I’ve seen 6 or more addenda during the tender period on relatively simple projects because the Purchasing department doesn’t have a clue how to put together an even-handed tender call.
The conspiracy theorist in me makes me think that the City intentionally makes contracted work almost impossible to bid so they can turn around and say ‘we’ll do it in-house instead’.
Quite true, x 100+ VOR. However it is not just the incredible failings of the “professional” purchasing department, it is the stunning incompetence of some in engineering who seem to be incapable of drawing a straight line with a pencil and ruler ! Very frustrating when they cannot or will not answer a simple question.
Your City has spent countless extra, useless dollars because of that ineptitude. Little wonder that work there is five times the money that it should be. A well known fact in the construction industry and the City is oblivious to that in their delusionary self assuredness.
V.
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