Ronald Wastewater District projects completed at less than bid price

This community update is provided by Ronald Wastewater

Ronald Wastewater District has been taking advantage of the favorable and low construction prices to complete some maintenance projects. “Not only are the ratepayers getting a great big bang for their buck, the projects are being completed at less than the bid price,” says Board President Brian Carroll.

The District recently finished a complete rehabilitation on its largest sewage pumping station on the corner of 10 Ave NE and NE 185 St. The project was completed for $5,669 less than the bid price, a 1% savings.

Several Capital Improvement Projects have also been completed at less than the bid price. “We are pleased that our engineering firm has been thorough in their design work, which has prevented the need for project change orders,” says Carroll, “and this has kept construction costs down. Not only that, but we are also able to replace side sewers for our ratepayers in the project area at no additional cost to them.”

The project along NE 155 St between 12 Ave NE and 15 Ave NE came in under the bid price by $38,293, a 9% savings. The project that included work on N 185 St between Meridian Ave N and 1 Ave NE and portions of the Richmond Beach area came in under the bid price by $14,233, a 3.4% savings.

“During our last project,” said General Manager Michael Derrick, “when we replaced some sanitary sewer mainlines and side sewers in portions of the Briarcrest and Richmond Beach Neighborhoods, the contractor encountered very wet running sand in Richmond Beach Drive NW. This unexpected condition caused the project to go over the bid price by $38,036.” He said, “It was one of those unfortunate experiences that cannot be anticipated. One part of the soil under the road was dry, a few feet down the road the soil was wet and flowing.”

The Board of Commissioners has in good times and bad times kept a close eye on controlling costs here at Ronald Wastewater District. Especially now, during difficult economic times, are they particularly conscious of where the money goes.

For 60 years, Ronald Wastewater District has been working together with you, our ratepayers, to be excellent environmental stewards.