DUBOIS – The Sandy Township board of supervisors on Monday night awarded its Brady Street valve replacement project to the sole bidder.
The sole bidder was Dave Roman Excavating in the amount of $263,020. The township’s preliminary estimate from Gwin Dobson & Foreman was $150,000.
Township Engineer Mike Haynes provided multiple reasons for the significant cost differential.
In addition to general inflation, he indicated it was a more complicated project and because it was a busier section of roadway, it required increased traffic control measures.
“This isn’t a typical project,” explained Haynes, “where you put pipe in, replace manholes, etc. I think that hurt interest.”
It was noted that while one bid was received, the township had three others express interest during the process.
The supervisors voted to accept the bid in order to avoid any potential risk for higher repair costs for its latest round of valve replacements, which has been ongoing since 2016.
Township Manager Shawn Arbaugh provided a historical overview of the valve replacement project, explaining valves were initially installed around 20 years ago.
Around six years ago, he said some valves started to blow apart during the winter months because the bolts weren’t made of stainless steel and had rusted.
“It’s a shame because we’re talking about a couple extra dollars for a steel bolt,” he said, and since then, the township has been working to replace valves in-house.
However, Arbaugh said the Brady Street valve replacement is beyond the scope of the township with it being a busier section of roadway and the valves being up to 12 feet under the roadway.
Arbaugh estimated that if these valves would burst, an emergency repair would cost another $60,000 between the break and other related issues.
The supervisors hope to make up the cost difference, if other projects come in under budget. Funding for this project is from the American Rescue Plan Act.
