Among the many streets being torn up as part of the parish’s more than $1.25 billion sewer system overhaul is Morning Glory Avenue, a heavily traveled road in the Southdowns neighborhood connecting the LSU lakes to Stanford Avenue.
Since late last summer, the two-lane street has languished in various stages of disrepair, while the contractor on the project, Wharton-Smith, replaces miles of sewer pipe that, in part, runs beneath the street. As weeks have given way to months and the seasons have changed three times, residents of the area have become increasingly frustrated that, while the sewer portion of the work appears to be complete, the street remains unpaved.
In early February, Department of Public Works interim director David Guillory told Daily Report the project was taking longer than anticipated—and conceded DPW was as frustrated as anyone—but said Wharton-Smith was within its allotted time to complete the work. He also said at the time the restoration of Morning Glory would begin February 11.
That was nearly two months ago, and Morning Glory is still a mess. The inconvenience of a single neighborhood may seem like a small thing in a relatively big city undergoing a massive, sewer system overhaul. But one can’t help but wonder if the delays and apparent inefficiencies suggest problems that are more troubling than the annoyance caused by an unpaved street.
Guillory says they do not, adding that the entire project remains on schedule and on budget—something the parish and the project manager, CH2M Hill, have maintained throughout the multi-year program.
“As of last month, 70% of the (sewer system) projects have been completed,” says Guillory. “Right now, we are in the middle of the highest construction year—2012, 2013 and 2014 are the busiest construction years of the entire project. By the end of next year you’re going to start to see things taper off and it’s all going to really come together.”
Guillory and CH2M Hill’s Josh Crowe say they can understand the frustration of residents of the area, but note the work on Morning Glory is just one part of a much larger, $11.1-million project that stretches for miles through E. Lakeshore Drive, University Gardens, Southdowns and beyond. What’s more, they say, Wharton-Smith has 15 months, according to its contract, to complete the entire project, which gives the contractor until the end of June to repave Morning Glory and also the other torn up streets in the area.
Given those facts, they concede the project is taking a long time, which they attribute to the nature of the work and the method Wharton-Smith has used to replace and test the sewer main. That method has involved replacing the 5.5-mile-long pipe in sections, temporarily repaving the road above it, then, once it was completely replaced, pressure-testing it for leaks.
That testing took place in December and January, and several leaks were detected, which required identifying the source of the leaks and repairing them before the street could be permanently repaved. The reparation process was not completed until late February.
“We do understand the frustration of people in the area because it appears the contractor is not working on the job,” Crowe says. “But there is a lot more work going on that just what you see on Morning Glory.”
That may be. Still, the leaks were all repaired by late February, so why has it taken more than six weeks to lay asphalt over the roadway? Crowe says Wharton-Smith is repaving more slowly than he’d hoped but that, again, the contractor is within its contractually allotted time frame. He says rainy weather and the company’s subcontractor have also contributed to delays in repaving.
Maybe, then, the more relevant question is why Wharton-Smith has been permitted to block key roadways for weeks or months on end, when work is not being done in the immediate area; or, why the contractor did not utilize a less disruptive method of replacing pipe and repaving the street. They may be pertinent questions, but Crowe says CH2M Hill’s job, as project manager, is not to question the way contractors do their work—only to ensure the work gets done on time and on budget.
“Contracts for construction are not awarded on anything but low bid … and Wharton-Smith is doing their job,” Crowe says. “Ideally, they would be able to get it done more quickly but some times these things get dragged out.”
