Bridge over budget
DELAYS TO PROJECT ALSO MEAN COSTS ARE SPIRALLING
THE long-delayed reconstruction of one of Newcastle’s key commuter routes is expected to come in more than half a million pounds over budget.
Current council projections put the cost of the Killingworth Road project at just over £14m, after it was revealed last week that the road will be shut until 2019.
The original estimate for the scheme was £13.5m, but severe delays to gasworks underneath the road have sent costs spiralling.
Killingworth Road, part of the A189 in South Gosforth, closed last July and had been due to re-open in March once the road was widened and a new Metro bridge installed.
Newcastle City Council then put the completion date back to June, before announcing last week that further complications meant it will be closed until next year.
The latest delays will mean increased costs of the gasworks, as well as extra payments to extend the running of additional bus services and road signage.
A council spokesman said: “The initial estimated budget for the Killingworth Road element of the package of works we are undertaking in this area of the city is £13.5m.
“The funding for the Killingworth Road scheme came from the Government’s Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund with Nexus also providing additional funding to support the removal of the Metro bridge.
“The latest projected costs are just over £14m but estimated costs can go up and down during the lifetime of a project as issues are encountered or savings are made with different elements of the work. This is normal for a large multi-disciplinary civil engineering project and every project has scope for contingency. With the extended delay to Killingworth Road through the utilities part of the project, we have seen an increase in costs.
“Most of this is in additional payments to Northern Gas Networks but it also includes payments for the extended traffic management we have in place such as signage advising of the closure and paying for additional bus services to ensure residents in certain parts of North Tyneside Council still have access to bus services.”
Civic centre bosses have indicated that they could pursue costsaving measures in other elements of the project to mitigate some of the increases, such as using cheaper materials in the road widening.
A delay cost penalty could also be imposed at the conclusion of the project, which will be determined by an arbitration process and split between the authority and NGN.
The council says the scheme has an overall contingency budget of £14.2m – £5m for Nexus’s bridge replacement, £1.15m for utility diversions, and £8m for the rest of the project. According to figures dated May 23, the cost of the project to date is £8,485,332. The spokesman added: “We are confident that costs are currently contained within project contingencies so the overall budget has not risen despite NGN encountering complications with contaminated land, land stability issues and a water main that has extended their programme.
“However, we are monitoring the situation closely and recognise that any further delays encountered on this element of the work may mean additional funding would be required.”