The final cost to reconstruct State Street from Hartfield Street to Sheppard Road came in $2.23 million less than projected.
The discovery of base materials that could be treated and reused kept the project cost at $17.39 million, which is $2.23 million less than projected.
Robert Lee, acting city engineer for the city of Jackson, said the original contract cost is based on the sum of all planned quantities at a unit price per quantity and the final cost is based on the actual amount of each pay item used.
“We built into the planned pay items some additional quantities to account for unanticipated field conditions while reconstructing the street and underground utilities,” he said.
A section of suitable base materials already in place under State Street near Triangle Drive was discovered instead of the Yazoo clay that was found throughout the rest of the project limits, he said.
“We were able to treat that good material and reuse it instead of having to dig it out, haul it off and bring in new material,” Lee said. “That resulted in a cost savings while providing a good solid base for the rebuilt street around Triangle Drive.”
The Jackson City Council approved the final payment of $694,188 to Hemphill Construction Co. during its May 10 meeting.
The council also approved an agreement with Hemphill Construction that added 152 calendar days to the project to account for delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, named tropical storms that passed over the job site and days when Eubanks Creek rose out of its bank and into the job site.
The project included reconstruction of two miles of North State Street stretching from Hartfield Street to Sheppard Road. The project also included a 10-foot wide multi-use path and landscaping.
In the section from Hartfield Street to Choctaw Road, the street was reduced to two 11- to 12-foot travel lanes. A 10-foot multi-use path was added along with a three-foot strip of greenery separating the path from a two-foot curb and gutter.
On the second section, from Choctaw Road to Northside Drive, the reconstruction included two 12-foot travel lanes, a 12-foot turn lane, 10-foot pathway and two-foot curb and gutter. The sidewalk is separated from the street by the curb and gutter.
From Hartfield Street to Northside Drive, the pathway is located on the east side of the street.
On the third section, from Northside Drive to Sheppard Road, the sidewalk is located on the west side of the roadway.
A three-foot green strip and two-foot curb and gutter separate the sidewalk from traffic.
The project was funded with a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant from the Federal Highway Administration and appropriated by the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
TIGER grants are competitive and awarded to projects that have a significant impact on the nation, a region or a metropolitan area. TIGER programs use rigorous, multi-modal selection criteria and the results of economic analysis to select projects and track the effectiveness of investments through project-specific performance measurement plans.
