BURST
Vancouver’s Granville Street Bridge reconstruction project to remove traffic loops, install a bike path and upgrade the steel coating to prevent rusting has hit another speed bump.
Having sued three local contractors over what the city called deficiencies in repairs done during 2019 and 2021, the city is now being sued by a painting company it hired to paint and restore parts of the 70-year-old bridge in a $5.8-million contract.
The city’s 2024 lawsuit, meanwhile, hasn’t progressed since it was filed early that year.
And Vancouver city council has granted one of the three defendants, general contractor Graham Infrastructure, an $8.8 million contract to fix the south end ramps in the next phase of the bridge restoration. Graham’s $8 million bid was half of two $16 million bids, while a fourth bid was for $13 million, according to Feb. 5 council meeting minutes.
The latest lawsuit against the city, filed by Jamac Painting and Sandblasting, based in New Brunswick, alleges “payment breaches” by the city.
Jamac said the contract was signed in September 2022 for structural steel repairs and recoating work as part of the first phase of the Granville Bridge structural repair and recoating project, according to the claim.
The contract stipulated the city would pay Jamac for any changes in the work that extended the contract length and ensure the bridge was in a condition that would allow the company to complete its work, Jumac’s claim said.
Jamac’s lawsuit alleges the city breached its contract because the bridge’s expansion joints, surrounding bolts and rubber troughs allowed water, road salt and debris into the structural members of the bridge.
Jamac said those “design breaches” caused it delays, loss of efficiency and additional expenses.
It also said the steel repairs it had to complete “far exceeded” the contract specifications. And it said changes and disruptions, such as directing night shift work without adequate compensation and inadequate staging room for equipment, all caused delays and additional costs.
Jamac said it performed the work and “invoiced the city accordingly” but the city has refused to pay the full amount, which it didn’t specify.
City staff’s recommendation to council to grant Jumac the contract in May 2022 said the project term was six months with an optional extension “at the city’s discretion” with payment “not to exceed $5,766,482,” according to council meeting minutes.
The city’s tender called for “structural repair and recoating services” and the city said Jumac beat out three other bidders and was “best value (and) also the lowest-priced.”
Staff told council that Associated Engineering assessed the bridge’s coating system in 2020 and said “some steel elements are showing signs of corrosion and require repairs,” the coating was “in poor condition” and no longer protects the steel from “structural deterioration due to corrosion” and deferring repairs is not recommended.
The city has yet to file a response to Jumac’s lawsuit and a communications staffer wouldn’t comment. None of the allegations have been proved in court.
Nor would the city comment on its 2024 lawsuit nor say whether that lawsuit, against Associated Engineering, Ross Rex Industrial Painting and Graham Infrastructure, had been settled or dropped. None of the companies had filed a response as required by the court within 21 days of the filing of lawsuit more than a year ago.
Phone messages and emails left with the companies for comment were not returned.
The 2024 lawsuit the city filed against the three contractors alleged several defects and deficiencies, including failing to apply caulking, improperly applying sealer and installing faulty rubber troughs that allowed salty water to spill on to the structure below.
It said Associated Engineering designed and inspected the work, Graham was general contractor and Ross Rex was the painting subcontractor, and it sought unspecified costs and damages.
As for council’s decision to grant a new contract to a company it’s suing for deficiencies, “Companies with past or current legal issues are not automatically excluded from our procurement processes,” said a communications staffer in an email.
The city in 2023 approved a $50-million project to transform the bridge, including converting the two westernmost of the bridge’s eight car lanes into separated walking, rolling and cycling routes and removing the traffic loops on the bridge’s north end.
Construction of Phase 1 is scheduled to be complete by early summer, including the pedestrian and bike path on the west side, which has been closed since the fall, according to the city staffer.