Water Main Replacement 2022 Edition Underway After Receiving More Funding
Inflation causes Engineering to request an additional $800,000
Completing the City’s budget before Christmas is said to give the City the best opportunities to find the better contractors at the best prices but this year inflation has thrown some sand into the gears of City Hall.
Construction started on the 2022 edition of cast iron water main replacement this past week with the City planning to replace 3,300 meters of cast iron water mains.
To award the tender to its fullest extent to the lowest qualified bidder, the budgeted amount needs to be increased.
“The reason for this is bid prices are higher than anticipated and to award the full scope of work we would be on budget,” City Engineer Bevin Harlton said explaining the need for an additional $800,000 for the 2022 edition of the cast iron water main replacement project.
Council had initially budgeted $7.1 million for the 2022 work but all three bids from qualified bidders came in above the budgeted amount calling for an additional $800,000 to be transferred from other engineering capital accounts.
There was no significant difference between the three qualified bidders.
The 2022 cast iron water main replacement program kicked off last week on Saskatchewan Street NE - MJ Independent photo
Inflationary pressures contributed to the higher than budgeted amount.
“The cost to install Polyvinyl Chloride Pipe has increased by approximately 25 percent. Several surface works bid items including road work have also increased, causing the overall bid to exceed budget,” an Engineering Department report read.
The City had initially forecast the cost to replace the 84 kilometers of cast iron water mains to be a 20 year program costing about $120 million. The 2016 estimate did not factor in inflation, City financial director Brian Acker said.
In order to fund this year’s portion of the Cast Iron Water Main Replacement Program - Phase VII - Council approved transferring $800,000 out of other Engineering funds - $400,000 from WW1 Water Distribution (Account No. 200.9618) and $400,000 from WW16 Buffalo Pound Transmission Line (Account No. 200.9616) to WW17 Water Main Replacement (Account No. 200.9617) for completion of all planned locations.
There is still some final paving work which needs to be completed from last year’s Phase VI. Final paving needs to be completed on the 900 block of Caribou Street West and the 900 block of Carleton Street West.
In order to complete the construction as quickly as possible the 2022 contractor, NIS Contractors (who were the successful bidder in 2020 and 2021), must provide three crews.
Locations Locations Locations
The City has chosen five locations as part of Phase VII of the Cast Iron Water Main Replacement program.
Locations for Phase VII of the Cast Iron Water Main Replacement Program - City of Moose Jaw map
The five locations chosen for Phase VII are:
Site 1 ‐ Saskatchewan St E from Main St N to 3rd Ave NE
Site 2 ‐ Athabasca St E from 2nd Ave NE to 3rd Ave NE - 2nd Ave NE from Athabasca St E to Hochelaga St E
Site 3 ‐ Grandview St W from 6th Ave SW to 10th Ave SW
Site 4 ‐ Main St S from Grandview St to Home St - Grandview St E from Main St S to 1st Ave SE
Site 5 ‐ 1st Ave NW from Caribou St W to Laurier St
Questions Asked About Program
At the April 25th post Council scrum MJ Independent asked a series of questions to City Manager Jim Puffalt about the Cast Iron Water Main Replacement Program.
Puffalt said there was no truth to claims the City lost out on $3 million in infrastructure funding for the Cast Iron Water Main Replacement Program from the Federal Government because the City had applied for, and received $1.2 million (on behalf of the Moose Jaw Municipal Airport Authority).
“Your information is not correct,” he said.
The City had applied for $3 million in funding for cast iron (on a cost sharing basis) which would have effectively allowed double the meters of cast iron to be replaced in Phase VI.
Under an application to the Rural and Northern Communities Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada plan Ottawa paid $1.2 million the Province $999,900 and the City contributed $500,100 for the Municipal Airport upgrades. The City, as the owner of the Municipal Airport is responsible for any additional costs.
Asked about the progress of replacing cast iron - given 18 kilometers of over 80 kilometers have been replaced in six years of a 20 year program - and does the amount of work done each year need to be replaced Puffalt said this year the amount is going up as changes have been made.
“When looking at these numbers we are up to 3300 meters this year which is our highest number ever and we are also talking about some of the operational changes we have made to get more money in the ground. Certainly one of those is bringing in in-house engineering and that has given us another half a million dollars we are able to put into the ground.”
A familiar sign will be out once again this summer - MJ Independent file photo
Puffalt said the decreasing numbers of water main breaks is showing there is a positive effect from the 18 kilometers of cast iron water mains replaces.
“As you know our breaks are starting to level off and our plan is of course to take that money we were spending for a hundred and some breaks (annually) that is now down to 50 (water main breaks annually) and take that money and put it into cast iron.”
Having the budget done by Christmas - instead of April - the City Manager said it allows the City to get the tenders out early which means tenders go out early and work starts early meaning the work is done within the construction year.
“All of those things working together helps us get more pipe into the ground,” he said.
Asked if the annual reduction in the number of cast iron water main breaks could also be because the winters of 2019 and 2020 was not because of the warmer weather Pufflat said it is a factor but does not tell the entire story.
He used the analogy of pothole repairs to illustrate how to reduce water main breaks.
“It is a lot of things and one of them is the money you put into the ground. They are like potholes the best way to get rid of them (breaks) is to replace the (water) line or re-pave the street (to eliminate potholes).”
The City is now moving towards replacing cast iron water mains where there were a large number of breaks to a more systematic manner, he said, adding the weather is still an important factor.
“The weather plays a huge part in it,” Puffalt said. The cold can have a major effect causing soil to contract and shift plus the amount of snow cover plays a role in the number of breaks.
Another factor is the type of soil the lines are laid in. Heavier clay soils flex causing breaks (mostly on North Hill) while sandier soils (mostly on South Hill) where there is much less flexing water mains are less like to break.
“Sand won’t do that (contract and expand) while clay will.”
“There are so many factors that can play into this that then again it is important to do a proper maintenance especially on those lines we know which have outlived their useful life.”
Pufflat said the lines to be replaced are selected based upon data showing the line’s physical condition and by doing so it helps keep the number of break repairs down.
The largest stretch for Phase VII of 1000 meters on 1st Ave NW from Caribou Street to Laurier Street was chosen because of the shape of the water main and the number of breaks which had occurred on it, he said.