Contractors working extra day on judicial building

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The construction of the new judicial building had quickly moved forward over several months. But this winter’s weather has not been as cooperative as last year’s.

As a result, Delaware County Commissioners were told construction is currently behind schedule.

“After the last schedule update Lendlease provided, we were about four weeks behind schedule largely due to the weather,” said Jon Melvin, director of facilities.

Lendlease Inc. is a construction management company overseeing the judicial building project.

“The problem being we haven’t had much of a winter, it’s been warm, but when it’s been warm it’s been wet. That’s been the biggest hamper getting the building dried in. So hopefully we can get the roof on and get the building dried,” Melvin said.

The 10-day forecast looks favorable with just one day of rain, Melvin said.

Gary Rutledge, vice president of Lendlease, told commissioners Thursday morning there have been problems finding additional construction workers for the project. Rutledge had reported of labor shortages to the commissioners last April.

“We’ve had some trouble getting roofing manpower,” Rutledge said. “We have seven additional crews coming in tomorrow and working Saturday. We should be able to get the roof done by the end of next week.”

Rutledge said windows are starting to be installed, which will help getting the building to dry out.

Rutledge told commissioners that some of the materials used in the construction of the build requires warmer temperatures.

He said the “rain and the high winds” have added to the difficulty in getting work done. “We need 40 degrees to install the roof membrane,” he said.

Ferzan Ahmed, county administrator, asked for an update on the “recovery schedule” to make up the lost time.

“We’re in the process of working with our subcontractors,” Rutledge said. “We’ve implemented a six-day work week a couple of weeks ago. We’ve been working Saturdays for the last four weeks.”

Rutledge said it’s now a matter of manpower and sequencing of activities. “You can’t get put too many bodies in the same place and be productive, but we are trying to sequence that so we’re working on all three floors at the same time,” he said.

Rutledge said there is a lot of temporary plastic up around the outside of the building to control moisture coming into the building. “We still need to get it under temperature control before we can do finishes,” he said. “Our push right now is to get permanent power into the building by the first of April so we can turn on the air handling systems and start conditioning the building.”

“We are really pushing that schedule to try and get us back on track to the end of June as possible,” Rutledge said.

Windows are being installed and brick is going up on the outside of the new judicial building on North Sandusky Street in Delaware. With the possibility of good weather next week the hope is to have the roof finished by the end of next week.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2017/02/web1_DSC_0915F.jpgWindows are being installed and brick is going up on the outside of the new judicial building on North Sandusky Street in Delaware. With the possibility of good weather next week the hope is to have the roof finished by the end of next week. D. Anthony Botkin | The Gazette

By D. Anthony Botkin

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D. Anthony Botkin may be reached at 740-413-0902 or on Twitter @dabotkin.

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