At $475,000, this is no average culvert project

MOUNT DESERT — It will cost up to $475,000 to replace two old, inadequate culverts that carry water from Denning Creek under Beech Hill Cross Road.

Director of Public Works Tony Smith described the existing culverts as “woefully undersized and in very poor condition”.

“These conditions contribute to flooding, pavement sinkholes and pavement washouts. Existing culverts also have a negative impact on the passage of animal life through them.

The city received a $125,000 grant from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) last year to help pay for culvert replacements. This is the highest number of DEP awards for “Municipal Waterway Crossing Improvements.” This amount includes $10,000 that Mount Desert has already spent as part of the $35,000 cost of project design, permitting and tendering services.

Smith and civil engineering consultancy VHB of South Portland prepared design and tender documents for the Denning Brook project and provided them to six qualified contractors in January. None of the six made an offer.

Smith then contacted RF Jordon & Sons Construction of Ellsworth, which is currently the general contractor for the Main Street improvement project in Northeast Harbor.

“We discussed pricing with them and came to an agreement on a negotiated price of $418,913, versus the engineers’ estimate of $380,000, a difference of 10%,” Smith said in a note. to City Manager Durlin Lunt. “Lately, VHB has been seeing bid prices 20-30% higher than their estimates and those of other companies.”

Smith said DEP is seeing similar cost increases with other projects in the state.

The Denning Brook project will follow the guidelines of the state’s Stream Smart program, which encourages the construction of culverts that “maintaining fish and wildlife habitat while protecting roads and public safety.”

“The DEP told me that the price we negotiated with RF Jordan for lack of receiving offers is acceptable under their program guidelines,” Smith said.

VHB will bill the city $43,500 for construction contract administration and inspection services, and Smith added $12,000 to the budget to cover contingencies. That brings the total cost to $474,913.

The select committee voted unanimously in late February to allow Smith to sign contracts with RF Jordan and VHB for agreed prices subject to voter approval at the May 3 annual town hall meeting.

“Four hundred thousand for a culvert seems insane to me,” said Select Board member Geoff Wood, who asked how he could explain the cost to people who ask. The short answer: This is a very big project.

Smith said one of the new culverts under Beech Hill Cross Road will be a 6ft high, 15ft wide concrete culvert.

“And we have to mimic the creek bed inside that culvert,” he said. “There is a way to determine the size of stones so insects and invertebrates can rest along the way.”

The other culvert to be replaced, which Smith says is rotting, is 4 feet high and 5 feet wide.

Dick Broom covers the towns of Mount Desert and Southwest Harbor, Mount Desert Island High School and the school system board and superintendent’s office. He enjoys hiking with his golden retriever and finding new places for him to swim. [email protected]