By Chris Yow
Editor
TRUSSVILLE — Liquidated damages, fines assessed to the contractor for not meeting the completion deadline, were set to begin on the Greenways Civitan Park project on Friday, Feb. 3, but according to Alabama Dept of Transportation (ALDOT) Director John Cooper contractor Walker Patton received an additional seven working days to complete the project. That number is down to three working days as of Monday, according to Trussville Mayor Buddy Choat. The total allotted working days given on the project was originally set at 180.
ALDOT, not the City of Trussville, is responsible for the administration of this project from administering the funds to collecting and awarding the bids. The city did, however, match $90,000 of the grant to allow the park to be revitalized. The city was also responsible for the hiring of the overseeing inspector, and chose the firm Stantec Consulting Services — a company very familiar with ALDOT work.
“At a time in the past, everything would’ve been administered by the city. Several years ago it was mandated by the Federal Highway Administration that the funds be administered by ALDOT,” Cooper said. “From a formal sense, we select the contractor, we administer the taking of bids and we have responsibility for reviewing the plans, which were drawn by a consultant.
“From a legal standpoint, the buck stops with me. I’m the director, nobody else is,” Cooper said.
In April 2012, construction began on the project with Montgomery-based Burnett Civil Contracting. Before the work was finished, Cooper asked the contractor to leave the project site. The bid to finish Veteran’s Park was awarded to Walker Patton in April 2014, and work was completed on time.
More than 18 months after the first contractor left, and the park sat empty, Walker Patton was awarded the bid to finish Civitan Park in December 2015. Work on the project was supposed to be finished by the summer of 2016, but a number of delays have pushed the project into 2017.
The term “working days” is defined as a day where work could be done without interruption from weather or other uncontrollable factors. The project is now expected to be completed within two calendar months.
“There is an obvious discord between seven working days and two calendar months,” Cooper said. “The deadline [would’ve been Feb. 9,] but there has been some rain and days we could not legitimately charge them. We gave them 32 calendar days we didn’t charge them over the course of this work. There was a period of time they could not work because of the error in the plans.”
Cooper said an error with an earth wall in the plans went unnoticed until the contractor reached that part of construction.
“We judge on whether we give credit for time on what is called the principal item of work,” Cooper said. “Sometimes there can be something happen on a job that delays one part of it, but it doesn’t delay the overall job because there are other things that can be done. Sometimes, however, you have something happen that must be done before anything else can be done.”
If the remaining work cannot be completed in those seven days, liquidated damage costs would be incurred. According to former Trussville mayor Gene Melton, that cost would be somewhere close to $3,000 per day.
Last week, however, another delay in the project prohibited Walker Patton from completing several aspects of the job.
Anchor bolts for the pedestrian bridge were set incorrectly by the contractor, causing a delay in the setting of the bridge. Because much of the remaining work revolves around the bridge, no work was completed on the project.
“I hope the citizens of Trussville will not underestimate the complexity of a seemingly simple project,” Cooper said. “It has not been a good project, no one would deny that, but I believe the project is being worked on and I believe reasonably.”
Cooper called Walker Pattor a “competent” contractor and said they have completed several projects similar to this. Delays, however, have continued to push this project longer and longer.
“(Walker Patton) is a name well known to us who has done a great deal of this type of work around Jefferson County. I thought we had every reason to believe the project would proceed at a reasonable pace,” Cooper said.
Despite an additional seven working days to complete the job, it likely will not be finished before liquidated damages begin.
“We believe about 77 percent of the work has been done in 99 percent of the time,” Cooper said.
With the setting of the pedestrian bridge, the work remaining on the project according to Cooper includes pouring the concrete deck at the edges of the bridge, building fields at the abutment at the ends of the bridge, pouring the sidewalk that ties into the abutment, planting approximately 130 trees, installing bollards, which are concrete post to keep people from driving into certain places, installing three or four light poles, dressing the back fields, re-grass the areas along the sidewalk and remove a stockpile of material located on Trail E.
Several benches and picnic tables have been placed throughout the park, and the fence along U.S. 11 has been removed. Slowly, but surely the park is beginning to take shape.
“One day, the fence will come up and all will be great,” Cooper said. “We believe that will be within the next two calendar months.”
38 Comments
Dennis Vandegrift
Am I the only one that doesn’t understand the quote in the headline?
Tyler Ward
They’ve used 99% of the time allotted and have only completed 77% of the work.
Ashley Reid Stodghill
What was the reasoning behind the 18 month gap from the time one contractor was let go and another one was hired?
Sandy Parker
What go on
Tanya Coy Richards
Government paperwork. You have to file for separation from previous company, time for appeals, put the project out for bid, pick bid, file a ton of paperwork, get permits, schedule work. Then the work can begin. It’s a joke in the construction business, but if Noah had to deal with all of it, the Ark would have never been built. 😂
Marshall Akins
A monument to ineptitude.
Brian Goose Godsey
Looking at the list of things that actually got accomplished in half the time they have spent on this greenway is about 30-35 million dollars of work. I’m estimating that amount. But I do know that my company and 2 others in this town over the last 3 years has probably done the same amount of work. Outside in the same weather, with the same labor issues, equipment breakdowns, holidays, vacations, people taking off for court dates, sick dog and cousins best friends brother got sick excuses. So I’m tired of hearing about what percent of work has been done in a certain amount of time. We get it !!!!!! No more updates. Finish the job and move on !!!!!
Dennis Patterson
Another Trussville project without a schedule, as the Poplar Street re-do had no schedule. In twenty years of construction I learned that most of the time politicians write construction contracts without timelines or “project completion percentage” agreements it was to facilitate stealing public money. Did they not know what they wanted done in this project? If they did, then why not bid it? And why not include a schedule with incentives for early completion, and penalties for missing “project completion percentage” dates? But the worst part: I can’t find anyone at City Hall that takes ownership of this project. It’s no one’s job.
Tommy Dodson
Sure
Sandy Walters Dempsey
Has he seen what we see everyday?
Judy Morrow Rice
Still a eyesore and would love to see and be able to use this place before the lord comes back
Sheila Isabell Wood
I will be glad. We used that area often with the grandkids maybe we will get to before they are grown.
Carson Young
I don’t see the problem. I like having piles of dirt and concrete slabs piled behind my children’s school
Cliff Bagwell
So…. Expect them complete around 2050?
Joan Creighton
Typical ALDOT
Dennis Blass
What?
Michelle Morgan McDonald
I think ALDOT is quoting Will Ferrell in Anchorman “60% of the time it works everytime”.
Rusty Sherard
Rusty Sherard
Ron Barbee
Don’t believe anything The Trussville Tribune writes….It is one of the biggest FAKE news papers anywhere…
Thomas Leonard
There is always some setbacks when doing these kinds of projects. When I was in construction there was always a target date…but target dates don’t account for unforseen circumstances.
Jason Lynn
What does that even mean??? So the other 23% work? What a bunch of political excuses that no one in Trussville will understand. So I can tell my Boss and clients that I will get 77% of my work done in time but the other 23% not so much.
Amy Bannick Griffin
I’m pretty sure it’s a Federal project.
Jay Sharpe
I’d like to know how much 77% of the work has cost in 99% of the time…
Mike Lambert
All this talk about ” working days” and “calendar days” interruptions from rain blah blah blah. If I remember, it didn’t rain a significant amount for forever. Was it too dry to work?
Heather Mitchell
The only setback has been nobody working on anything. Not weather, not a lack of materials, nothing but a lack of work being done because if you can still collect a check and not work, them why lift a finger? It wasn’t until we got a new mayor that anything really began to be worked on. I live on Chickasaw and drive past this eyesore multiple times a day and can attest to the complete and total lack of work being done.
Frank Roberson
Oddly specific numbers. I believe about 23.456% of this article.
Tate McNees
Should have left it alone. You started on this year’s ago. . Nothing like having concrete under your feet while walking in the woods. So sick of all the fences too. Get it done already.
Tate McNees
Can we use 77 percent of it. That would be nice. It’ll be another 3 years before this is done.
Mark Custer
I have worked for the city with park and recreation for 16 years now.I have worked in the sports complex all that time.This is a federal gov. project overseen by ALDOT to my knowledge.The first contractor was completely inept!When this current contractor finally got started they not only had to build the original plan but they had to remove almost all existing work the first bunch did.That took a lot of time.There has been work being done constantly but there are places you cannot see from any road,like along the Cahaba river behind the sports complex.When you see the finished product I believe you’ll be impressed.I live here too.Hang in there.
John Patterson
I’ve walked it end to end several times. It is a nice walk and will be a tremendous addition to our quality of life here in Trussville. I look forward to its completion eagerly. I do hope and pray that that occurs while I can still walk that far however I was reading about Hoover Dam the other day. Did you know it was completed in 4 1/2 years? The Golden Gate Bridge took 4 years and 3 months. I believe we started the Greenway in 2012.
Dennis Blass
6 years for a mile of concrete sidewalk? You are kind.
Kyle Richardson
Fake News?
Kyle Richardson
Fake News?
Kyle Richardson
Yes… I’d love to walk my dog on the 77% of the completed part before my 60th birthday…
Kyle Richardson
Tiki Kirk
Tiki Kirk
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Mike Lambert
Federal gov. project overseen by ALDOT. Do we really need to say more?