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Contractor orders new pipe to replace damaged pipe

More heavy rains here are not stopping progress at the Tired Creek Lake dam, according to Grady County Administrator Carlos Tobar.
Late last week, nearly four inches of rain fell here on top of over four inches in mid-March and those rains did significant damage to pipe in the lake’s principal spillway riser.
Tobar reports that Brad Cole Construction has placed an order for replacement pipe and the pipe should be delivered by mid-June.
The heavy rains on March 16 and 17 breached a berm and rolled sections of pipe that go into the lake’s principal spillway riser.
According to officials with Schnabel Engineering, the pipe is a conduit for carrying the water from the principal spillway riser to the outlet structure at the downstream side of the dam.
The 60-inch diameter pipe in 20-foot sections was delivered on site in mid-February and work was progressing on the installation of the pipe and the pouring of concrete risers when the heavy rain event occurred last month.
“We are now looking at mid-January of 2015 before the dam is completed,” Tobar said.
The county administrator said he is confident the board of commissioners will approve a recommendation to extend the length of time the contractor has to complete the project once a formal change order is issued.
“We don’t have anything official, but with the delay due to the pipe damage, they are going to need more time to finish the dam and we want to work with the contractor,” Tobar said.
Brad Cole Construction officials say that approximately $350,000 of damage was done by the March rain event. According to Tobar, the cost of the pipe that must be replaced is $216,868.60 and the cost of a new riser is $71,536.80.
The county administrator also said that the contractor is working to eliminate any future drainage issues during the construction phase of the project.
Meanwhile, Brad Cole crews are busy working on the concrete labyrinth-crested weir spillway, which has an accordion-like design that gives the 78-foot spillway the same capacity as a 300-foot spillway.
“They are going great guns on that,” Tobar said this week and he added, “so we are making good progress.”
The county is paying Brad Cole Construction $8,932,752.49 to construct the 2,200 feet long 42-foot-high dam.

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