With the price of virtually everything going up and up and up, the cost of repairing the Hawkestone wharf in Oro-Medonte Township will come as a pleasant surprise to tax-paying residents.
Originally budgeted at $350,000, the repairs are pegged to come in at about half that amount.
According to a report that will be presented for approval during the township’s council meeting on Wednesday, written by Justin Metras, manager of infrastructure and capital projects, T&C Construction Welding submitted a bid of $174,253 to complete the repairs.
Two other firms also bid on the project: Headstart Construction submitted a bid of $310,995 and Galcon Marine submitted a bid of $313,729.
Unlike most construction projects which have a contingency fee of between five to 10 per cent of a project's total cost, this one has a contingency fee of $50,000 (or 33 per cent) of the total cost. Additionally, there is a $10,000 allocation for geotechnical work.
“Due to the nature of this specialized project, there is a high level of potential uncertainties, namely with the subsurface works, and as a result there is an increased likelihood there may be an increase in the overall project cost,” Metras wrote in his report. “Staff have mitigated these potential risks by having a larger contingency than usual.”
In 2009, Oro-Medonte accepted an offer from Fisheries and Oceans Small Craft Harbours to assume ownership of the Hawkestone wharf. However, the new ownership came with no additional funding for maintenance and repairs. Those costs are dealt with through the township’s parks and facilities annual operating budget.
According to a report that detailed the scope of the work required to bring the wharf up to par, prepared by Roz Llewellyn, the township's manager of community services and presented to council on Feb. 14, the Hawkestone wharf sustained significant damage in November 2022 and was temporarily repaired until a permanent solution could be found.
“Similar repairs such as these have been completed several times in the past, however damage of this nature is a reoccurring issue as these storms are increasing with severity,” Llewellyn said in her report. “They create excessive wind and considerable wave action that repeatedly continues to deteriorate the condition of the wharfs.
“The damage sustained by these storms has advanced the previous timelines and the requirements for repairs in the 10-year time horizon to the current time immediate time horizon,” she added.
According to Llewellyn’s report, the engineering review found the Hawkestone wharf to be in “fair condition.”
The concrete slab in the eastern section of the wharf has undergone significant settlement and cracking.
“As the sheet pile walls are relatively plumb with no apparent distress (i.e. bowing), it is the opinion of the engineers that the damages observed were most likely attributed to settlement of the underlying soils and or from prolonged wave action displacing the fine aggregates and causing the voids observed,” Llewellyn wrote.
The repair recommendations included removal of the existing concrete slab, the addition of new compacted aggregates, and the reinstatement of a new concrete slab. The report also said it would also be prudent to replace the tie-rod anchors between sheet piles as they would be accessible.
“This would address required repairs and garner an extension of the life of the structure by 25 to 30-plus years,” Llewellyn wrote.
There was no construction start date in the report.
