The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1921-03-12
Page

To the Honorable, The Mayor and Members
of Council of the City of Pleasantyille,
\. j.
In accordance with your resolution of Feb
ruary 2lst, we have the honor to submit
herewith the following report, pertaining to
the contract covering construction of the
sewers. As several of the present members
81 council were not a part of the governing
body at the time the sewer project was first
started, a brief review of events leading up
to the awarding Of the contract will be given.
Construction of the sewers as a pubic i'm
provement was first seriously thought of in
1918, when engineers were engaged to pre-
pare the necessary plans and specifications,
As hnally approved by both the State De-
partment of Health and City Council, the
plans included designs for sewers upon all
streets within the City. wherever there were
s~utficient houses to justify their construo-
ton. At a largely attended public meeting
on September Bird, 1917. an ordinance was
passed, providing for the construction, as a
public Improvement, of a comprehensive sys-
tenn of sewers, in accordance with the adopt
ed plans and specifications. Adoption Of
this ordinance empowered Council to con-
struct any portion or all of the sewer sys-
TEN at such time or times as might, in its
udgment conform to the best interests Of
the City. After three successive ADVERTISE
ments, suitable bids were received on July
9TH, 1919, and a week later the work was
awarded to the lowest bidder.
As is usual in the construction of a large
49,, 'N"NA many
kinds OF difficulty were anticipated. Some
could be foreseen while others, such as the
presence of quicksand or mud which would
not support the pipes, underground streams,
gas or water mains and concealed obstruc-
tons of all kinds, could not be foretold or
known until actually encountered. As a
matter of fact, so many of these unforeseen
difficulties are always met with in work of
this nature, that no contractor will under
take to do the work for a lump sum price
liked IN advance. Contracts for sewer sys-
tens and work of like nature are, therefore,
always made on what is called the unit price
basis. In bidding a unit price for each
item, the contractor agrees to lay approxi-
mately 50 many feet of pipe of each size and
kind for so much a foot, or to construct a
manhole, flush tank or some other part of
the system fer a certain fixed price. As a
result, the contractor is paid for the actual
work which he is called upon to do, at the
price which he has bid, and which is fixed
in his contract. Although the contractor
bids upon quantities of each kind of work
which have been previously estimated. it Is
possible, because of the unit prices, to re-
duee the amount of work originally intended
or to add TO the same by making an extern
sion. or to change the location of a sewer,
without violating in any way the terms of
the contract.
There is only one way that the cost of the
work may be foretold before the same is
actually completed, and that is by an esti-
mate, carefully prepared after the bids have
been received, and before the contract is
awarded. This estimate must be composed
OF two parts-one, the cost of furnishing
anu laying the pipes, constructing the man
holes, flush tanks, house laterals. or. in other
words, the part of the work for which both
quantities and prices are definitely known.
The other is the indefinite cost. due to con-
ditions already described. and which cannot
possibly be fCreseen in advance of the work.
To determine this cost, the engineer calls for
unit bids for the furnishing Of all kinds of
material and the doing of all kinds of work
which his Judgment and preyiois experience
tell him will probably be necessary. He does
not know IN advance, however, how much Of
thu 1Au-ap In uaaraF gnnnRH 44aan EAr.faT FaH.p
dations because of quicksand or how many
thousand feet of pipe it will be necessary to
provide with watertight joints, or how much
timber braeing must be left in position to
prevent the pipes from being crushed by
caying banks. All that he can do is to OBJ
tain prices for a small amount of each kind
Of work that may be necessary and use these
in estimating that portion of the total cost
which, of necessity, must be indefinite.
At the, time of receiving the bids, an esti-
mate of the total cost of the work was pre-
pared in the manner already described, and
submitted to Council previous to awarding
the contract. Based upon the known guam
titles and the lowest price bid, it was found
that the cost of doing that portion of the
work definitely known in advance amounted
to approximately $50, 300 90. To this was
added the estimate covering the second part
of the work, making a total of $109, 070.0 90.
This amount was forecasted as being the final
cost of construction and it was used to show
those citizens present at the meeting what
the individual cost would be.
Since the work of building the sewers Is
| nearing completion, it is possible to show
with accuracy the final cost of the work,
This is now estimated at $112,536.0 90, or
within 81 20 of the original estimate a diff
ference so small as to hardly affect the indi-
yidual cost at all.
In addition to the misunderstanding of the
cost of the work, it has been claimed that
extensions have been made to the sewer sys-
TEN without readvertising to take advantage
of the lower cost of materials and labor.
In explanation of this. no extensions have
been made but those for which full authori-
cation was given to you by the construction
ordinance. Such extensions, if made, would
not have been readvertised for the reason
that the present contract prices are lower by
300 than any which would now be bid.
today Is not lower but twice that of 1913,
and labor, although down from the peak of
last year, is still no lower than when the
contract was awarded.
Il has also been stated that thousands Of
feet of sewer pipe laid on the streets and
broken before use have been paid for by the
city. This is not true. IN accordance with
the terms Of the contract and common prac-
tice, payments up to but $3.50 in value of
the pipe have been made to the contractor
upon delivery Of the material upon the
ground. Such sums are deducted from the
hnal payments made as fast as the material
is used, with the result that no pipe but
that which is perfectly sound, passed on in
speetlon and Incorporated in the work, is
In conclusion, we desire to make clear
that all work has been done and materials
tufHlSntu IN strict CpnIofl9dflce Win the pro-
visions OF the ordinance and terms of the
contract. In no instance of which We have
knowledge has more care been taken either
in the design, the supervision or in the car
rying out of the work than in the construe-
ton of your sewers We, therefore, do not
hesitate to say at this time that, when COM
pleted. the cost will not exceed by any arp
probable amount that which was estimated,
and that the closest and most critical in
spection will reveal only work of the most
satisfactory and highest class.
Respectfully submitted.
REMINGTON & NOSBURY,
Consulting Engineers.
BY w. Dewitt Vosbury.