Water levels no longer holding up overpass project

Rainfall and water levels are no longer an issue for the Highway 18 overpass and Highway 61 connections projects, according district construction engineer Alan Walter, who said now the Arkansas Highway Department is facing discrepancies with contractors.

For most of this year, construction on the overpass project has been at a standstill, apparently because of rainfall and water levels, but in the last several weeks, as water levels returned to normal and higher temperatures prevailed, water hasn't been an issue, according to Walter.

"There are culverts that tie directly into the existing drainage about 10-12 feet deep. When we would dig down, the bottom of the hole would fill up with water pretty quick," Walter said. "Over the last few weeks, we've gone out there ourselves and checked the levels, and we've told the contractors we're no longer seeing water. It's not an issue like it was earlier this year -- they're back to a more normal level."

The biggest hold up now is between the AHD and the companies contracted to complete the project. Walter said the department has had concerns about the job, particularly in regard to some of the price quotes they've been given.

"We've been negotiating prices for additional items to add more support and we seem to be disagreeing on the costs," Walter said. "The contractors feel like they need this certain amount, which is higher than what we would normally see. But we're getting it worked out."

As for the overall financial status of the project, Walter said money hasn't been and shouldn't be an issue. With 24 years of experience working for the AHD, he said he's never seen a project that was started not get completed because of funding.

"These are just normal delays we're seeing," he said. "There's been no real standstill or retreat on the project. It's still an active site, and if there's something to pay for, we pay for it. So I've never experienced problems of that nature."

Currently there is no projected completion date, and while it may not be finished by December, the project still has roughly 75 percent of its allotted work days available, which is a good thing, according to Walter.

"This project wasn't given a set date -- there's no mark on the calendar for completion. We give the contractors a certain number of working days, which for this project I think was about 200 days, and they still have a good chunk of that time left," he said. "We've still had some sub-contractors out there working and even some of the other contractor's crews have been there. But we haven't charged them for very many days at all this year because of the rain and stuff."

The Arkansas Highway Department Director Scott E. Bennett is scheduled to make stops at each of the city's civic clubs in the coming weeks to discuss the project first hand.

cpinkard@blythevillecourier.com