Range Road 18-2 project moving ahead smoothly

By Cole Parkinson
Vauxhall Advance
cparkinson@tabertimes.com

If things go according to plan, the project to rebuild Range Road 18-2 will be finished by the end of October this year.

During council’s regular meeting on March 24, councillors got an update on where the project was heading into spring.

“Range Road 18-2 is an approved capital project. We had opened the tenders on February 18 and we received 10 bids that had quite the range from just under $1 million down to a little over $250,000,” explained Craig Pittman, director of infrastructure.

Tenders received for the project were DeGraff Excavating ($276,318.80), East Butte Contracting ($298,408.78), Ririe Pit Run and Gravel ($417,099.77), Dennis’ Dirtworx ($439,692.50), Ossa Terra ($447,392), Groundtech Enterprises ($504,804.92), N.L. Smith and Sons Construction ($514,690), Brooks and Asphalt and Aggregate ($516,410), McNally Contractors ($685,874.50) and Year Round Landscaping ($974,642.84).

“With that, we have awarded the contract and signed and sealed the contract documents to award the job to the low bid which is well within range of our budget,” added Pittman. “This project is to be completed prior to October 2020.”

The approved budget for this project is $425,000 and the project is partially funded through the Alberta Government through the Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program (STIP) Resource Road Program up to a value of $196,000.

With the tender from DeGraff Excavating being accepted, Pittman highlighted his dealings with the company.

“I have done numerous projects with the low bid contractor, not at the M.D. of Taber but prior to my employment here. The contractor does quality work and I believe there is very little risk involved with this project and this contract.”

“Stakeholders have been involved from the beginning of the project. Stakeholders include local landowners, Alberta Transportation, Alberta Environment and Parks, Bow River Irrigation District, Atco Pipelines and Telus,” stated Administration’s report.

Before construction begins, notifications and updates will be advertised on the M.D. of Taber website while road closures will be managed and advertised through the digital mapping which is accessible to the public through the M.D. of Taber website.

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