Prison project on track for 2024 | Featured Story

“As far as safety is concerned, there have been no lost time accidents. All contractors continue to adhere to OSHA safety requirements and plans,” Bollin said. “Since we started work, and quite intensely last month, all contractors have been working on the final baseline schedule. The general contractor met with each of the contractors to get their information, and we had separate meetings where everyone is together and everyone goes over the schedule and agrees on the logic,” Bollin said.

All major HVAC and electrical equipment has been submitted, approved and released, Bollin said.

“We are still awaiting a firm delivery date for the electrical switchgear and part of the HVAC equipment,” he said.

Senior Project Manager Carl York provided an update on the construction progress.

York said the 3.5 days lost to inclement weather were due to rain.

“So far no one has come back and said, ‘There is a change.’ We’re just adjusting the schedule and moving forward,” he said. “They’re making really good progress there. The contractors are all working well together.

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Rochelle Stein asked what the biggest challenge so far has been.

“Material availability — that’s what we encounter. Even when we ask for samples. We can’t even get sample kits from some vendors anymore. I’m most concerned about National Grid and the (permanent) power to the site, our switchgear coming in here and then the equipment on the roof,” York said. “These are our biggest concerns. We’ve built time into the schedule for this, but if they start to slip, these are all critical items that will directly impact the schedule. We heed our P’s and Q’s and keep contractors informed of what they owe us and get that job done on time.

York said cut and fill work at the site is approximately 95% complete.

“The topsoil is fully stored and stabilized. Underground utilities, we’re about 75% with sanitary, including manholes and stuff like that. Storm water is about 25% complete and water/fire about 50%.

York said they were trying to get the design from National Grid to power the site,” he said. “It’s still being designed in Albany. We don’t have any of that yet.

National Fuel came out and walked to the site, but did not provide any information about getting gas to the property, York said.

“The foundation work is in progress. We started with the administration building. We build where the admin building is linked to the pods. We come and do this,” he said. “LeChase (Construction) has another team starting this week, starting with the first module and cells, starting that foundation work. We should start backfilling on the foundation walls that we poured this week.

York said all of the contractors and design team were working on a 3D model of the prison, making sure everything was going to fit. This process is about one-third complete. They focused on underground utilities that needed to be coordinated with the foundation work.

“Right now they’re doing the deck work and the HVAC piping and the plumbing piping and stuff like that,” he said. “It’s going extremely well.”

The project’s original budget from initial bid amounts was $57,272,800, he said. Adding CME testing to the budget brought the cost to $57,467,800. York said there was a change order that added $32,512.

“It was about adding 3 inches of stone to create a stable work surface. We did not include this in the initial offers. We didn’t know what we were going to encounter. Once we saw what the site would look like, it was the best thing to do to create a stable work area.

Bollin said there have been no quality issues or Board of Corrections issues with the work thus far.