FAYETTEVILLE — The new Washington County Courthouse parking deck looks nearly finished seven months past its original completion date, but county officials and the contractor would not commit to an opening date.
In recent weeks, construction crews painted parking spaces, laid sod and posted traffic signs, some of the finishing touches on a project that has kept residents and others from parking near the seat of county government.
“It has a huge impact as far as time,” said Jan Rutledge of West Fork, who visits the courthouse at Dickson Street and College Avenue once a week to research public records. She parks a couple blocks away and walks to the courthouse entrance, since the project began more than a year and a half ago.
“I’m a self-employed person, which means every minute I’m away from my office is an expense for me,” Rutledge said. “It’s extra time that I don’t really have.”
The county hired Little Rock-based Vratsinas Construction in July 2009 to replace the parking deck that served the courthouse. The deck was closed in October 2008 because of safety concerns after a hole appeared in the parking surface. Demolition began in August, with completion scheduled a year later.
The original contract totaled $4.36 million, but that price grew as the project was complicated by underground voids requiring additional engineering and construction work.
The most recent Feb. 2 extended deadline is weeks gone. County officials in recent weeks have asked the contractor to take corrective steps on a few details. County Judge Marilyn Edwards told the Quorum Court recently her staff asked the construction company to re-do some work, citing an example of some installed metal railings.
The railings ordered where a different type than required by public building regulations, said Ron Wood, the county’s building maintenance supervisor.
The construction company denied any serious lingering issues with the county.
“We feel the overall quality of the deck is excellent, and we are working to correct any design issues,” Essa Alley, Vratsinas president, wrote in an e-mail.
The county is ready to impose “liquidated damages,” a $1,500 penalty for every day, including weekends, past the contracted deadline the deck is not completed, said County Attorney George Butler. The county began tallying the daily penalty Feb. 3. It would total $37,500 today if every day is counted.
The county and contractor agreed to the terms of such damages when they signed the contract, but the agreement allows either party to negotiate damages. The architects serve as a sort mediator between the county and Vratsinas, according to the contract.
Alley said his crews are working diligently to complete the project, but as of last week did not have a completion date. He said no liquidated damages are warranted.
The cold winter weather — not just record snow, but low temperatures — is mainly to blame for the most recent delay. On that fact, the parties involved in the project can agree, sort of.
“Obviously, we’ve had the really bad weather in February, but they were supposed to be done Feb. 2,” Butler said. “They didn’t ramp up (work) until two weeks before Feb. 2. They should have ramped up way before then.”
The deck’s pavement needs to reach 50 degrees in weather with less than 50 percent humidity before it can be sealed, Wood said.
January’s average weather in Fayetteville had a high of 45 degrees and a low of 21, according to the National Weather Service. So far, February has averaged 47 and 24.
The pavement needs to be sealed to prevent water from seeping into cracks and holes, Wood said. If water seeps into cracks, freezes and expands, the pavement can break up over time.
BY THE NUMBERS
Parking Deck Costs
• Total adjusted contract: $6,100,915
Washington County’s parking deck’s total adjusted contract is $6,100,915. Payments on the desk total $6,095,595. As of Feb. 22, payments made break down as:
• Construction: $5,046,150
• Engineering: $961,695
• Soil/Test Work: $78,481
• Cabling/Fiber: $8,794
• Asbestos Survey: $866
• Various: $251
• Reimbursement: $-643
Source: Washington County
“The low temperatures that Northwest Arkansas has experienced have prevented us from being able to apply these finishes and allow for them to cure,” Alley wrote. “The weather also impacted road conditions in Northwest Arkansas and the surrounding states, which delayed the delivery of many products.”
January saw 1.5 inches of snow fall in Fayetteville, according to the weather service. February brought almost 19 inches.
The primary reason cited for the seven-month delay has been the installation of 93 piers that took nearly half a year.
The piers took longer than expected to drill because of voids and underground rock formation, said Brad Hammond, president of McGoodwin, Williams and Yates, the firm that engineered the project. Some holes had to be deeper and others had to have steel casings installed.
To date, the county has paid $6.09 million to various vendors for the parking deck, according to county accounting documents. The total adjusted contract is $6.1 million.
On Thursday, Alley said the project delay was “no big deal” and did not want news coverage to portray a conflict between the county and his company, despite concerns expressed publicly by County Judge Marilyn Edwards.
“We have had some problems,” Edwards said. “We have had some things that have not been done properly that had to be torn out and redone. There’s just been a lot of things that have happened, plus we’ve had a few days of snow and ice that slowed them down. But as of right now, I’m hoping that by the end of March, we’ll be able to finish this deck.”
Parking for those needing to access the courthouse continues to be available at the Lafayette Street parking deck of Central United Methodist Church, where a county-funded shuttle will pick up and return riders.