Kokua Line June Watanabe

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Broken gutters add more work to Manoa’s repaving job

Question: I heard that the repaving of Lowrey Avenue in Manoa has hit a snag. Because contractors discovered too much damage to gutters and curbs, they can't go ahead, and the project has to be sent out for new bids or be subject to numerous change orders. Can you find out what's going on and when, if ever, the city plans to repave Lowrey? In the meantime, the barriers saying "no parking" remain up, with no work being done.

Answer: The project has hit a roadblock, but work -- apart from the actual resurfacing -- is continuing, according to the city Department of Design and Construction.

Lowrey is among 13 streets in the Manoa Road Rehabilitation Project, which began in February. The current contractual completion date is mid-November, but that might be extended because of the extra work needed due to "unforeseen circumstances."

DDC officials said they were aware that some gutters needed to be reconstructed, so that item was included in the contract. However, the extent of that work was not known because many of the gutters were overlaid with asphalt, the result of previous resurfacing, they said.

As the asphalt from the gutters is removed by the contractor, Road Builders Corp., city engineers will assess the need to reconstruct the gutters.

At this point the city acknowledges "the amount of gutter reconstruction will be greater than originally anticipated."

This will not require rebidding the project, but will result in an adjustment in the amount of work required by the contractor "and commensurate compensation." Because other contractual work will be deleted, the added work might or might not increase the original $3.55 million cost of the project.

Meanwhile, work on the project has not been suspended, and the contractor is authorized to continue working.

Also, while actual paving is not being done, we're told pre-paving activities could be occurring, such as manhole adjustments, topographic surveys and grade adjustments -- all work that precedes actual paving.

Design and Construction officials apologized for the inconvenience but said the "no parking" barriers remain in place to facilitate work, as the contractor and consultant continue to assess what needs to be done. That's because any roadblock requires 24-hour advance notice.

The snag here is nothing out of the ordinary, according to Design and Construction officials.

"As with virtually all construction proj-ects, adjustments to the original scope of work become necessary during construction, primarily due to unforeseen conditions encountered in the field."

Streets involved in the project, in addition to Lowrey Avenue, are Kalawao Place, Kalawao Street, Kalehua Street, Kaloaluiki Place, Kaloaluiki Street, Kanu Street, Loi Street, Kahawai Street, Woodlawn Drive, Kaaipu Avenue, Loomis Street and Vista Place.