Schools

"Unsuitable Fill" Material Found at Pivik Elementary Construction Site Could Be Costly

The Plum School District might have to pay up to $350,000 extra for the movement of underground rock.


Contractors working at the new Pivik Elementary construction site have come across 30,000 to 40,000 cubic yards of fat clay—material that can't be reused—under the ground.

At a Plum School Board facilities committee meeting on Monday night, Steve Peterman, project manager with Massaro Construction Management Services; Dana Steadman, L. Robert Kimball architect; and Dennis Russo, an independent contractor serving as the district representative for construction, discussed their findings with the board.

According to Russo, construction workers unexpectedly found the clay material—decomposed limestone resembling plastic—and have to move it away from the construction site.

Workers had expected to use the underground soil as fill for other parts of the construction site. Because it can't be used, they currently are moving it to the North parking lot at the site and eventually will move it off the site.

It will have to be moved more times than expected, Russo said. That process will increase the amount of manpower and machinery use, in turn, increasing the cost.

The school board will be presented with a change order for the project to deal with the problem. Peterman—whose firm is managing the $14 million project—said negotiations for the added cost to the project are ongoing, but board members said they'd be open to approving a change order with an amount not to exceed $350,000.

"That doesn't mean the district is going to pay $350,000," Peterman said. "We're trying to get that number as low as possible."

Russo agreed.

"We're going to pay something," he said. "We just don't know what yet."

The district has about $700,000 in the project contingency fund, which has been set aside in case of an emergency or unexpected occurrences. Because the district has the contingency fund, the overall cost of the project won't change, Petermen said.

Board members questioned the reasoning behind the surprise because sample soil borings of different spots at the site had been tested prior to the start of the project.

Petermen said the borings had been conducted in 2008. Since then, he said he doesn't know if the conditions have changed.

"One boring showed nine inches of mud," he said. "When we exposed it, there were four feet.

"It could have been from bad weather or bad drainage. We don't know."

Kimball also said the narrative of the findings in the borings only is for use of the structural engineer. He said the contractors didn't have access to that information.

Workers from Nello Construction, the general contractor for the project, continue to work 40 hours per week Monday through Thursday.

Russo and Petermen said they hope they have a solution to the problem soon. It's not known if a change order will be ready for the school board's June 28 voting meeting.


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