Council seeks new sewer bids
Two received cost too much
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
GALESBURG - Galesburg City Manager Gary Goddard does not believe rebidding the downtown storm sewer project will cause much of a delay."We were planning to be done Nov. 15," he said. "Now we are just saying we will be done in November."
At Goddard's request, the Galesburg City Council on Monday rejected bids from two Macomb-based construction companies to do the work. Both base bids came in considerably higher than anticipated. Hillyer Excavation submitted a bid of $4,090,825 and Laverdiere Construction bid $4,937,266. With only $3.3 million from the city, the Galesburg Sanitary District and the state, Goddard said the city did not have enough to award either bid.
The project is being rebid in a modified form, with bids to be open May 10. Instead of resurfacing the areas worked on with asphalt this year, the areas will be patched with cement. They will be paved in 2006 after being bid separately. Goddard said the city also would use less expensive material as filler in the construction.
"The basic plan is still intact," he said.
The reason the bids came in so much higher than expected, Goddard said, is a combination of the work being on city streets that will not be totally closed and haven't been excavated for decades and recent increases in the cost of petroleum and steel.
An old, undersized sewer serves the central business district. The Park Plaza area in the 100 block of East Main Street, the first block of South Kellogg Street and the Orpheum Theatre area have frequently flooded after heavy rains. The project is expected to alleviate those problems.
A new, bigger system will be installed on East Main Street from Cherry Street to Chambers Street, on Cherry from Water Street to Tompkins Street, and on Kellogg Street from Main to Simmons Street. The work is expected to double or triple the capacity of the existing sewer. The new sewers will be at least 3 by 3 feet, as opposed to current sewers, which are as small as 18 by 15 inches. There is no storm sewer under Main Street.
Officials say the increased sewer size will aid in drainage, but will not eliminate flooding entirely. The engineering firm of Bruner, Cooper and Zuck estimated a $6.7 million system would eliminate flooding, but the city did not have that much money to spend.
Once construction begins, each street will be closed for two to four weeks for the construction.
