Change orders for the railroad overpass project at the State Road 46 and State Road 11 intersection are at $956,992 as of mid-May, city officials said.
The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is responsible for half of this cost; the other half will be paid by the city.
“INDOT will pay the contractor for the change orders,” explained Executive Director of Public Works and City Engineer Dave Hayward. “INDOT will then bill the city, and the city will pay the state for half the cost of the change orders.”
The railroad overpass contract is between INDOT and Milestone Contractors, and that the city of Columbus is “a third party,” Hayward said.
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The current cost of the change orders is about 3.8 percent of the project’s original costs, Hayward told Columbus Redevelopment Commission members.
“Typically, INDOT lands on 5% to 7%, so we’re well within that,” he said, “and I think we’re past a lot of the things that should be coming up for add-on costs to the project. I would say there’s some other items that the contractor has under-run on quantity-wise, early in the project, and so we think there are some other things that’ll help bring the cost down as we move forward.”
Hayward also said there is a contingency fund in place to cover the cost of change orders, and so far the city has not surpassed the amount in that fund.
The first four change orders on the project (which involved the sewer force main removal and lime stabilization work) were estimated to be $137,883. At the time, the workers found the sewer force main on the east side of the railroad but were still looking on the west side.
“They kept digging where that line was supposed to be and tried all kinds of other utility location methods,” Hayward said during the May meeting. “They could not find that force main. So after exhaustive efforts, they finally did find it, but it was nowhere near where it was supposed to be, nowhere near where it would need to be relocated. So that’s now been deleted from the project.”
He estimated that this change will actually save the project $388,000 and offset some of the other change order costs — such the number of beams needed for the overpass, which was underestimated by Milestone Contractors in their original bid for the project.
“Somehow, in putting the plans and quantities together, they estimated quantity at half what they should have,” Hayward said. “So instead of being 26 beams, they had 13 beams in the bid documents. So that was a pretty big change order. That was $1.1 million, almost $1.2 million for just that alone.”
“Change orders occur in construction projects for a variety of reasons. In this case, it was a design discrepancy that was discovered after construction had begun. INDOT has been able to work with the contractor to ensure the project moves forward and continues on schedule, said INDOT Southeast District Public Relations Director Natalie Garrett.
Other change orders include moving the control box for the Robert N. Stewart Bridge lighting so it doesn’t block the guardrail, city officials said.
Currently, the overpass project is in the first of three phases. The first phase should be complete by the end of spring this year, according to INDOT. Traffic interruptions are expected to be “minimal” during this phase, according to Garrett.
The second phase, which starts Monday and is expected to be completed by late fall, will result in temporary road and lane closures on State Road 11 and State Road 46.
In early summer, construction crews are expected to work on water mains, drainage structures and pavement on State Road 11, which is tentatively scheduled to be closed to all traffic for 30 days in June, Garrett said. Traffic on State Road 11 will be rerouted on to I-65 during that time.
In the fall, eastbound State Road 46 will be reduced to one lane for around 50 days to “allow construction of various tie-in points between the existing roadway and new roadway,” Garrett said.
During the third phase of the project, which is projected to start in fall 2020, westbound State Road 46 will be reduced to one lane for about two months, according to INDOT.
The new alignment of State Road 46 is expected to be open to traffic by the end of the year, with some additional work, including seeding and sodding through spring and early summer 2021, Garrett said. The contract completion date is June 2021.
The overpass project was developed in response to a projected increase in railroad traffic on the Louisville & Indiana Railroad tracks. INDOT has agreed to pick up half of the total cost, while the city, along with other partners, pick up the half of the tab.
The railroad has leased its tracks running through Columbus to CSX, which is expected to result in an increase in train traffic, train speed and delays at intersections involving rail crossings through the city, with the State Road 46/State Road 11 intersection expected to have the most delayed local traffic.
The city has partnered with Cummins, Bartholomew County and the Louisville & Indiana and CSX Railroads to defray around half of the local funding requirements in the interlocal agreement, city officials said.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the project was held last November.
