PORT ANGELES — The cost of a structural repair to a foundation wall at The Gateway transit center will range from $15,000 to $20,000.
No go-ahead for the work to begin has been issued.
The repair, which will take between seven and 10 working days to complete, cannot begin until Krei Architecture provides the city of Port Angeles with an updated drawing that takes into account a drain pipe, said city Public Works and Utilities Director Glenn Cutler on Friday.
The repair involves adding additional concrete and reinforcing steel to the eastern foundation wall of the project’s pavilion where concrete cracked underneath a horizontal support beam last summer, he said.
Completion of the $14.7 million downtown project — which also includes a bus lane, 169 parking spaces, public restrooms, an office for the city’s downtown resource police officer and a break room for bus drivers — has been on hold until the repair could be approved and conducted.
The city approved the repair proposed by Krei and its subcontractor, Bright Engineering Inc., on April 24.
The project is a joint venture between the city and Clallam Transit and was scheduled to be completed last November.
It is funded by $8.1 million in state and federal grants, $6.1 million in city funds and $500,000 from Clallam Transit.
The repair will be conducted by contractor Primo Construction of Sequim, which provided the city with the cost estimate.
“It’s a reasonable cost estimate,” Cutler said.
Cutler said he asked Krei — which the city has blamed for delaying the project — for the updated drawings on April 24 and expected to have received them by Friday.
“I was expecting results,” he said.
Cutler said Krei hasn’t given him a date for completing the updated drawings.
Previously, city staff members have said that Krei was slow to provide information on what caused the cracked concrete or how the repair meets city code.
In both cases, the city used another engineering firm to answer its questions.
Cause of crack
The cause of the cracked concrete, found in September, was determined in January by Berger/Abam Engineers Inc. of Seattle to be a result of a change order.
In order to avoid removing a light pole, Krei decided to “cut off” the eastern foundation wall of the pavilion at a 45-degree angle instead of a 90-degree angle as previously planned, Cutler said.
This put extra stress on the wall and caused the cracks when the support beam was “post-tensioned,” which refers to high-strength steel tendons being tensioned with jacks to provide additional strength.
The public restrooms will remain closed until the structural repair is finished because they are accessed through the pavilion.
Although Clallam Transit already has a parking management agreement with Heckman Motors in place, the parking will remain closed until the repair to the pavilion is done and Clallam Transit resolves its concerns over its agreement with the city.
Utilities
Clallam Transit General Manager Terry Weed said it remains unclear how the city will be involved in managing the property and which utilities the transit agency and the city will cover.
“For example, with the bathrooms, it’s not clear to me on what metering system those bathrooms are going to be charged. It’s relatively important to know,” he said.
All of Clallam Transit’s share of the parking revenue is expected to go toward maintenance of the facility, including the cost of utilities.
Safety issues
Weed said some minor safety issues haven’t been resolved and that the parking underneath the pavilion will remain closed until the repair is finished.
The safety issues include placing a hanging barrier on the lower deck of the west parking garage so that vehicles that exceed the height limit don’t hit the ceiling.
Although the upper deck of the west parking garage is ready to be opened — and was open last weekend for the Jazz in the Olympics Festival — Weed said none of the parking will be officially opened until the parking spaces under the pavilion can be used.
That’s because, under the current parking agreement, Clallam Transit will charge Heckman $1,540 a month no matter how many spaces are available for use.
“That puts him in an awkward position — and us,” he said.
Resolving these issues have been “on the back burner” until recently because of the pavilion’s structural issue, Weed said.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
