SASKATOON — Saskatoon's Transportation and Construction division, for the second straight year, overcame the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic while weather also helped in having several projects finishing ahead of schedule.
The city is expected to have sunny weather for at least two more weeks, even if temperatures begin to plunge to double digits in the coming days, giving workers to complete the remaining projects for the 2021 construction season. Snow showers are anticipated in the morning of Nov. 11 with temperatures at a high of 2°celsius and a low of -8°.
Transportation and Construction general manager Terry Schmidt told members of the media, in a recent press briefing done by video conference, that they have always faced various challenges every year but managed to complete all projects.
“Oftentimes weather is one of the biggest challenges with scheduling delays and coordinating the work. But this year the weather was so favourable. It wasn’t really one of the big issues that cause challenges.”
“When we look at a project, like we had on College Drive or Circle Drive over 8th Street, we [also] look into traffic accommodation. This year, those projects proceeded very quickly. In fact, I think the 8th Street project was completed 20 days ahead of schedule … So, a lot of the issues on traffic management and weather were mitigated. We were able to work without a lot of delays or major traffic impacts this year.”
Schmidt said several of their road projects finished ahead of schedule.
"We had more time to finish others, due to a very dry summer and above average temperatures that extended into the fall. Overall, work was generally steady and uninterrupted, and we were able to improve approximately 207 kilometres of roads this year. We replace water mains and service connections at the same time. The roads excavated during that work are then completely resurfaced and repaved from curb-to-curb.”
Part of the City’s construction project was the replacement or rehabilitation of roughly 22 kilometres of water mains and sanitary sewer mains — about the distance from Saskatoon to the nearby city of Martensville.
Schmidt added that the City had cooperated pretty well with the contractor that helped in the project on 8th Street, where they worked 24 hours a day for every week since construction started while also encountering some issues in procuring materials.
“We’ve seen some very competitive pricing in most areas. There were some pressures in securing materials with PVC pipes for the underground. There has been some cost escalation in some steel prices for some of our concrete projects — reinforced concrete and lumber, but things starting to stabilize now ... like for our underground projects, water and sewer projects, with PVC pipes. But the contractors were able to get most of the materials into those projects due beyond schedule. We also saw escalation on some projects that involves steel and lumber.”
A total of $65.5 million were invested in all the construction and repair projects — streets, bridges, and sidewalks.
Schmidt said they are now preparing for next year as part of the three-year preservation plan and forecasting up to 2021.
“We are in the process of working with the Finance Committee and the Council in finalizing the budget. A lot will be determined once we finalized the budget. We look at road conditions every year and adjust them accordingly. Also considered is the approved Council budget.”
