Last year the heavy construction division of Carolina Sunrock was the low bidder at $285,896.98 for one of several road projects in Wake Forest. Those included the connection of Royal Mill Avenue, radius repairs in the South Forest Business Park, the restriping of Retail Drive, the repaving of the Wake Forest Police Department parking lot, and the connection of Forest Drive to South Main Street, about 335 feet.
This week, while announcing Carolina Sunrock will soon begin reconstructing Forest Road, a town news release said: “Initial construction on the connection concluded in November 2018, but the Town refused to accept the road after an inspection revealed asphalt and safety issues. Since then, Town staff has worked with Carolina Sunrock to determine the cause of the asphalt failure and determine the best remedy for repair and acceptance.
“Following the preliminary work during the week of May 6, milling of the current pavement will begin during the week of May 13 – weather permitting. Crews will then re-stabilize the road base prior to repaving. The work is “expected to be completed in June. Once completed, Forest Road, which is located off Ligon Mill Road, will run parallel to Wake Drive and extend to South Main Street/US 1-A.”
So what went wrong with the initial construction? Allison Snyder, assistant director of the town’s public works department, wrote in a series of emails that engineers and public works staff found the problems last December.
“There were construction defects noted prior to the acceptance of the street that would lead to safety issues in the future. Defective issues noted; pumping (movement of the asphalt under trucks which indicates a soft subgrade and/or base course stone) of the asphalt, along with check cracking at the surface of the asphalt. Check cracking in the asphalt surface course was noted, this cracking is usually associated with tender asphalt mixes. The cracks appear transverse in nature and usually occur during the roller/compaction phase of asphalt construction. These cracks can lead to water penetration and premature failure of the roadway.”
She also made it clear: “Many factors led to the road not being accepted and blame cannot be solely placed on Sunrock.
The town only paid $223,670.74, $622,226.24 less than the original contract.
Snyder also wrote: “The second portion of the project to begin next week was not rebid, but covered under the initial Contract.
“As a follow-up to my earlier email, I wanted to clarify that we will apply a portion of the savings we realized from the other four initiatives included in the street connection project to cover the $50,000 cost of the repairs to Forest Road and remain within or under budget.”
