The Town of Hanna council approved changes to an existing construction contract to include work on a bridge. The resolution to add to an existing construction contract was made at the Sept. 9 regular meeting of council.

Councillors read a report from Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Matthew Norburn regarding approval of change order #03 bridge work (BF 07672 replacement), with the staff recommendation noted as, “That council approve change order #03 to the contract with Brooks Asphalt & Aggregate Ltd. for the addition of bridge, earthworks, and associated road work under the Pioneer Trail and Palliser Trail Rehabilitation Project.”

Readers should note that at their most recent information meeting held in Aug. councillors were informed that a project in that town, Pioneer Trail and Palliser Trail, was probably going to be delayed as a bridge on one of the roads couldn’t be worked on because of migratory birds in the area.

“MPE (Engineering) determined that including the bridge replacement within the existing contract would result in significant efficiencies and cost savings compared to tendering separately,” stated the staff memo.

“Specifically, completing the bridge work under the current contract enables certain roadwork quantities to be cost-shared. MPE had previously estimated the construction portion of the bridge work at $900,000.

“BAA’s negotiated price for the construction component, excluding site occupancy, is $676,000, which is notably lower than the estimate.

“The overall value of change order #03 is higher, at $817,720.00, because it also includes additional roadwork ($51,733) and site occupancy ($90,000). Site occupancy, contingency, utility relocation and engineering costs will be accounted for separately.

“However, for reference, the (grant) funding from the province applies to all bridge-related costs, not just those associated with Brooks’ contract. The (grant) allocation for this project is approximately $1.3 million, which is expected to offset the bulk of the bridge-related expenses.

“MPE has reviewed the pricing and recommends approval of the change order.”

During discussion the CAO noted that tendering the bridge work takes time and money, and including it in an existing contract instead can reduce those issues for the Town of Hanna.

He added that, since this change order is a “pretty big change,” the order should be approved directly by councillors.

It should be noted that a copy of change order #3 was included with the agenda and the project’s previous scheduled completion date was Aug. 31, 2025 and that anticipated additional days required for completion was listed as 30. The revised substantial completion date was left empty.

Councillors unanimously approved the change order.