27 February 2012

Cost over-runs and delays in Placentia #nlpoli

On Monday,  the provincial public works department put a limit on the size of trucks that can go over the left bridge at Placentia.

This came after someone inspected the bridge.

Interestingly enough,  the same department had a tender call out last May to replace the bridge they just put restrictions on.

A few months later - In August, 2011 to be exact - the department cancelled the tender because the only bidder came in almost $20 million above that they budgeted.  Here’s what the release said would happen:

With the bid for this tender coming in so high, the department will immediately begin a full review of the existing bridge to provide more details around the exact condition of the current structure, and costing and potential years of service life for a rehabilitated structure. The review will also help determine whether the scope of work for a replacement structure can be revised to make the project more cost-effective.

Now being off budget and behind schedule is not new for provincial public works.  In fact, since 2003, this sort of stuff is the norm.

- srbp -