Sudbury asphalt pilot project may be scaled back
The City of Greater Sudbury will likely have to scale back on its plans to test hot-in-place asphalt recycling (HIR) on a handful of roads this summer.
The city had budgeted about $1.5 million to use HIR to repair about 25 lane kilometres of roadway on four major routes in the city—MR 35, Kingsway, Radar Road and Bancroft Drive—but all of the three bids it received were over budget.
At just over $2.1 million, the bid from Pioneer Construction was about $550,000 over the city’s project estimate. Further bids from Belanger Construction ($2.35 million) and Interpaving Limited ($2.45 million) were even further out of budget.
"The low bid is approximately $550,000 higher than estimated. The HIR item represents approximately 75 to 80 percent of the contract value," said a staff report, which will be tabled at council on September 8.
"The unit price for this item was higher than estimated and represents the majority of the difference between the estimate and bid results. As this treatment is new to the city, staff consulted with industry and engineering consultants to determine the estimated price. While the HIR unit rate is higher than estimated, it still represents value for money as the unit rate represents a savings of at least 30 percent in comparison to a grind and asphalt overlay treatment, which has a similar typical service life.”
Given this, staff has recommended in its report that the project scope be scaled back to complete the work within the HIR project budget, and to complete the pilot project before the end of the year.
Its recommendation is to remove the Bancroft Road section of the project altogether, while shortening the limits of the other three locations by a combined four lane kilometres.
“Removal of Bancroft Drive will reduce the construction schedule by reducing the coordination and time required for concrete curb removal and replacement. As a result of the proposed scope reduction, approximately 90 percent of the HIR funds will be used directly for the HIR process,” says the report.
Funding for the HIR pilot project includes $700,000 from the federal gas tax fund and $811,000 funding from the 2020 budget.
In July, local council committed to a pilot project to test HIR and its effectiveness before the end of this year.
The method, which rehabilitates deteriorated asphalt pavements in place, was popular in Ontario for a period of about 20 years—until the early 2000s. Due to improvements in technology and experience with hot in-place recycling, the treatment is now becoming a competitive alternative to milling and paving with new asphalt.
New evidence suggests that current hot in-place technology uses about 35 percent less energy than conventional methods and emits fewer greenhouse gases than other methods.