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Concrete work on new sewage treatment plant about a month behind schedule as of late February

Completion of concrete work for the new wastewater treatment plant in Thompson is behind schedule but the company serving as design engineer says there is plenty of time to catch up and the delay will not increase the cost of the estimated $36.
Construction of Thompson's new wastewater treatment plant, seen here in a photo from December, is cu
Construction of Thompson's new wastewater treatment plant, seen here in a photo from December, is currently behind schedule by about a month, as concrete work expected to be done by mid-April is currently on pace to be done by mid-May.

Completion of concrete work for the new wastewater treatment plant in Thompson is behind schedule but the company serving as design engineer says there is plenty of time to catch up and the delay will not increase the cost of the estimated $36.5 million project, equally shared by the city, provincial and federal governments.

Concrete pouring for the foundation walls, previously estimated to be done by mid-April, is about a month behind and may not be finished until mid-May, Sibal Basu of design engineer Stantec, which also provides contract administration services, told council at their Feb. 26 meeting.

"We estimate that Bird is roughly about a month behind schedule," Basu said in reference to project contractor Bird Construction. "But there is a long way to go and we are hopeful that Bird will catch up."

In response to a question from Coun. Duncan Wong, Basu said that the delay will not increase the project's cost because it is a lump-sum price contract and that, if the project is not substantially complete by the agreed upon date, the city, Stantec and the Manitoba Water Services Board could choose to enact a penalty clause for every day the project falls behind schedule.

"It is at the discretion of the contract administrator and the client," Basu said. "I don’t want to go there right now because, as I mentioned, there's a long time and they obviously have ample time to catch up."

Unlike many sewage treatment plants elsewhere, this one will have closed tanks, which will save construction costs because the building housing offices and operational machinery can be built on top of the tank instead of another foundation being constructed beside the tanks.

"This allows us a compact design," said Basu. "It is the tank that is basically taking the load from the structure."

This design also preserves space for future expansion and eliminates problems that Thomson's cold weather could cause with operations if the tanks were open.

Coun. Kathy Valentino and deputy mayor Colleen Smook expressed their desire for the contractor to employ local workers as much as possible.

"They've met with Vale human resources with the layoffs that have occurred there," said Perry Piwniuk of Stantec, "but some of the skills that come out of the mining don't necessarily line up with the trade skills that are needed on this site. There are some voids there,"

Bird is still open to accepting job applications from local residents, he said.

Smook also asked if the delays in finishing concrete work would delay work scheduled to be done by subcontractors.

"There are some parallel activities," said Basu, noting that Bird is completing areas so that other subcontractors can begin their work before the concrete is completely finished. "The mechanical contractor is already on site."

Construction of steel framing is scheduled to be complete by June of this year with the rest of the building superstructure scheduled to be done by October. Mechanical works are scheduled to be complete in November to allow commissioning of the new plant to begin in January of next year in hopes of having achieved substantial completion a year from now.

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