The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

By a 3-1 vote, Cathlamet Town Council members approved a $97,000 change order for the town's wastewater treatment plant construction project.

The payment will cover the cost of a new design for running the lines under SR 4.

The original design called for boring a tunnel under the highway, but the boring contractor encountered rock that put a stop to that plan.

Engineers and the contractors discussed other methods of crossing the highway and settled on digging a trench for the conveyance lines. Construction will start as soon as possible, said Tom Zerkel of Gray and Osborne Engineers (G&O).

Zerkel described a series of circumstances and bad luck that contributed to the problem.

The conveyance lines, one to bring sewage to the new plant and another to carry treated effluent to the outflow, have to cross under SR 4.

The town was able to secure right of way for the lines but was limited in crossing sites by wetlands and right of way boundaries.

The engineers had determined that bedrock was at an 8-foot depth on one side of the highway and a 5-foot depth at the other. The state Department of Transportation (WSDOT) prefers a 10-foot depth for crossing lines but allowed a variance for eight feet. To check for bedrock, the subcontractor drilled straight down through the highway at the centerline and found adequate depth.

However, said project engineer Mallory Taylor, when the subcontractor started boring under the highway, he encountered a large boulder just four feet from the edge of the road.

To drill through the boulder and install a casing for the conveyance lines could make the road bed unstable, she said, and so they had to stop boring and develop the other plan, which involves digging a trench for the lines.

Zerkel commented that engineers would have preferred the trenching plan in the first place because of its easy construction, but they were limited by WSDOT requirements.

In discussion at Monday's meeting, citizen Charles Rambo, a retired public works engineer, suggested the angle of the bore could have been changed to run diagonally under the highway on a different line to avoid the boulder. Zerkel replied that WSDOT allows only perpendicular bores.

Council Members Steven McNicholas and Wally Wright pressed Zerkel repeatedly to justify the town paying for the work. They also questioned the expense.

"Remember, it wasn't bedrock that caused this," Zerkel said; "it was a boulder, and the chances of encountering a boulder were kind of remote."

G&O staff have been negotiating with the contractor over the situation, Zerkel said. The proposed work would be done on a time and materials basis, with the contractors adding on a 20 percent total markup, 5 percent for the general contractor and 15 percent for the subcontractor.

The subcontractor had already completed about 80 percent of the work in preparing the work sites at each end of the crossing. The change order compensates for that work and for extra work in analyzing the problem. A $17,000 credit reflects the cost of the boring that wasn't completed.

McNicholas commented that he thought the engineers and contractors should have found the rock.

Zerkel replied that engineers had toured the route with the town's former public works superintendent to learn where rock had been encountered, and they had three measurements at the crossing. The hidden boulder was a changed condition for the contract and would be subject to negotiation.

"We went with quality people (for engineering) so we wouldn't be surprised," said Council Member Wright, "and we have a surprise."

When one is working underground, there is a lot of risk no matter how careful one tries to be, Zerkel responded.

"The bottom line is, we pay," McNicholas said.

"No one likes this situation," said Council Member Dick Swart. There are a lot of uncertainties, he said, and the crossing is only a small part of the complete project.

"I don't want the whole project to become unraveled," Swart said, and he recommended other council members support the project.

Council Member Bob Rendler, acting as mayor pro tem in the absence of Mayor George Wehrfritz, called for the vote, and he, Swart and Wright voted for Swart's motion to pay the change order. McNicholas voted against it.

"For the record," he said, "I would have drilled, or the contractor should have called for it. I've been in the mining business long enough to know that you'd better know what your're drilling."