A digger carrying building material for a new bridge on Poads Rd across the Ohau River. Photo / Bev Poulton
A digger carrying building material for a new bridge on Poads Rd across the Ohau River. Photo / Bev Poulton
A massive rise in the cost of materials has blown the budget on a new road accessing remote homes and popular swimming holes at the foot of the Tararua Ranges near Levin.
The original project estimate of $4,950,000 for a realignment of Gladstone Rd is now forecast to cost $6,260,000 to complete - an increase of 26 per cent - due almost entirely to skyrocketing material costs on initial budget forecasts.
Horowhenua District Council will meet tomorrow night to consider a budget increase of $1,260,000 to get the project across the line.
A report by HDC road services manager James Wallace says material costs were relatively static in the months immediately before and after the project's original budget estimate.
However, since the initial engineer's budget estimate, diesel had increased 130 per cent, concrete 50 per cent, reinforcing steel 57 per cent, structural steel 53 per cent and bitumen 48 per cent, his report says.
"Allowing for such dramatic cost escalations in the original estimate would have been unjustifiable and far exceeded what we believed to be reasonable at that time," it said.
The construction budget was capped at $5million and contractors were now seeking approval from HDC to exceed the budget cap.
A slip in Gladstone Rd after the heavy rainfall on June 26-27, permanently closing the road.
In his report Wallace says the preferred option was to increase the budget by $1.26 million and continue with work as planned, adding it would be cheaper in the long run to complete the project now.
While the current plan had the highest capital cost of options being considered, it carried lower maintenance costs.
Any scaling back of work would be a "hard sell" to locals, too.
"The local community expects us to deliver a fully resilient replacement for the former Gladstone Rd. There is tremendous support and enthusiasm for the project among all users of the road," he said in his report.
The plan would allow all-weather accessibility for all classes of vehicles, emergency services and heavy trucks, doing away with the Trig Rd emergency detour.
The old swing bridge across the Ohau River connecting those working and living on Poads Rd to Gladstone Rd, under threat from the 1952 floods.
To scale down work as planned by leaving sections of the road unsealed or reducing width in parts to one lane with passing bays would be more expensive long term with higher maintenance costs, his report says.
The preferred option had two new one-lane bridges and a two-lane sealed road the entire 1.5km length of the realignment.
There was also the fear that scaled-down options would not allow all-weather accessibility for heavy trucks and emergency services due to the unsealed road and steepness of some of the gradients.
Scaled-down plans would risk NZTA requiring a portion of its initial subsidy to be repaid, he said. It would be dangerous for logging trucks and urban firefighting appliances, while buses and even cars could find it difficult in bad weather.
Meanwhile, wet weather had also added cost to the project. The original estimate had assumed the old road would remain open during construction, resulting in minimal traffic management.
But another slip in June last year forced the old road's permanent closure and the construction of a new emergency track was not in the initial budget. Having public access to the road while work was under way also slowed progress and added to time delays.
Gladstone Road near Levin was closed again due to another slip in 2019.
Numerous times the emergency road was closed due to washouts. There were five separate instances of heavy rainfall during construction, all of which required remedial work and interrupted the main works.
Costs relating to the loss of productivity due to weather had been absorbed by contractors.
Construction began in November with road and earthwork contracts awarded to Fulton Hogan with primary subcontractor Mill Albert Ltd. Emmetts Construction was awarded the bridges contract.
In the meantime HDC would seek emergency funding from NZTA to cover the cost overrun, with a decision expected this month.
