Lacey needs to fix 17 manholes, but the work will take place at night. Won’t that be loud?
Seventeen sewer manholes are set to be repaired after Lacey City Council awarded a contract for the work at its Tuesday meeting.
The winning bidder was Western United Civil Group from Yacolt in Clark County. Their bid was about $670,000, which beat out two additional bidders.
The work is expected to start in February and last 40 days. They will repair three manholes in the area of the Homann Drive roundabout, plus 14 others on Martin Way East and Desmond Drive.
The work includes sealing leaks, cracks and void spaces, as well as addressing areas of corrosion and any structural deficiencies, said utility engineer Jason Kashani.
“And after the repairs are made to the manholes, polyurethane coating will be used to seal the manhole, which extends the structure’s life,” he told the council.
The work will take place at night so it won’t affect traffic or area businesses. But some of the work is on Lacey Street, a residential street in one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city.
Will it be loud?
Ty Keltner, a spokesman for the city, said there will be some noise associated with the manhole repairs, but it won’t be as loud as typical road construction, which includes grinding and paving.
Requiring the work be done at night did have an effect on the bids. The engineer’s estimate for the cost of the work was about $475,000, but the winning low bid was around $670,000.
Council member Nic Dunning asked about the difference.
“This was the first bid that I’ve seen since I’ve been on council where the engineer’s estimate was a pretty drastic percentage lower,” he said. “And I was just wondering if there’s a specific reason why the bids kind of came out much higher than we thought.”
Kashani attributed it to doing the work at night and that some of the manholes are big and pretty deep, which the bidding contractors felt would require more work to repair.
Kashani explained the process.
“When the contractors come and do their bid, they do a thorough, full inspection,” he said. “They go down each of the manholes, check it out and see what’s happening. They then come back and give you their best bid.”
This story was originally published December 20, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
