Major street improvements coming to six areas, including Nylan Cr. Cul-de-Sac

Major street improvements coming to six areas, including Nylan Cr. Cul-de-Sac

Summer, or construction season, as it is lovingly referred to in Alberta, is upon the municipality. The
Town of Whitecourt recently revealed the 10,790 square metres of pavement structure rehabilitation
they would perform at six key community locations as per the 2023 Street Improvement Program.
Two schedules of work were provided. Schedule “A” is the overlay work that will take place at areas
where there was a water main break or underground service repairs causing damage to the pavement
and at the six identified locations: 55 Avenue & Dahl Drive/Mink Creek Road, 48 Street (from 56 Avenue
to 57 Avenue), the Nylan Crescent Cul de Sac, 56 Avenue (from 47A Street to 48 Street), 51 Avenue
(from 47 Street to 48 Street), and the 38 Avenue & Kepler Street intersection.
Schedule “B” works with concrete, such as drainage improvements and repairing areas where concrete
infrastructure has deteriorated. Drainage-specific work includes reconfiguring existing curbs and gutters,
sidewalks, and swales. Schedule “B” also includes sidewalk enhancements in areas where sidewalks are
failing and need special attention. The final piece is driveway enhancement, replacing a straight-face
sidewalk with a roll-face sidewalk so residents can access their driveways.
Schedules “A” and “B” comprise the 2023 Street Improvement Program. Five bids were received through
the tender process, and Whitecourt Town Council recently awarded E-Construction with the contract,
totalling $596,192.49 plus GST. Council also authorized any additional work required, if needed,
provided the cost stayed within the available budget for the yearly program, which is $757,759.
CAO Peter Smyl explained that Whitecourt had received a good response on tenders and bids over the
last fifteen years, with competitive pricing regularly acquired through the process. He said it was likely
due to the timing of the proposals being put out. “We get them in early and seem to always get good
prices,” commented Smyl.
Juan Grande, Infrastructure Services Manager for the Town of Whitecourt, said this year’s Overlay
Program focused on the downtown area, with only one place receiving significant work uptown. “Our
pavement management system actually identifies the locations. In springtime, we do a walkthrough of
those locations, and that’s when we actually put together the program and tender it out. This year, once
again, we’ve received competitive pricing. We can see that three of those bids are within a fairly close
margin. It’s fairly typical of the process that we follow.” The three closest bids were Knelsen Sand &
Gravel for $669,095.40, Border Paving for $640,829.10 and E-Construction for $596,192.49.
Deputy Mayor Braden Lanctot asked how much variation Administration saw between the tendered
amount and the budget set aside for the program each year. “Is there much variation, or do we pay the
tendered amount?” Smyl explained that the cost is based on quantity. “We do our best to get estimates.
Juan and Kamruz (Zaman, Director of Infrastructure Services) may expand the program depending on
situations that they find out in the spring after the thawing season happens, and maybe additional work
is required, but the amount tendered is the amount we pay per unit. That’s how we break it up. That’s
why we are recommending working within the budget to the maximum of the budget, and whatever is
left not used gets spent the following year, adding to the 2024 projects.”

Grande added that they have an extensive cost analysis process using historical data from over the
years. He said they could see cost trends depending on the strength of oil prices and other variables.
Using their data and getting an estimate on costs in any given year, the Infrastructure team puts
together an estimate along with a budget to cover the proposed expenses.
Zaman added that with Schedule “A” and “B” happening simultaneously in one contract, it saves the
municipality on mobilizing costs of the contract winner. Rather than pay twice or multiple times to have
a company come in to do road work, the tendered company only has to set up once. “We have in our
schedule the mobilization costs for our contractor to come in and then the unit rate for the asphalt and
concrete. There is a one-time mobilization rate for them, and then the unit rate goes as per our quantity
of asphalt or concrete.” Compiling the projects into one contract also provides a more competitive cost.
The cold milling material removed under the surface during the work this construction season will be
recycled and used during roadway maintenance, parking lot resurfacing, back alley resurfacing, and the
firefighter training grounds.