Airport paving tender comes in lower than expected

May 7, 2024, 8:49 am
Kevin Weedmark

There was good news for Moosomin’s airport expansion project when tenders were opened for paving the new runway.

There were five bids, and the successful bid, from Langenburg Redi-Mix, was $1,979,577.33—more than $720,000 or 27 per cent lower than the estimated cost of $2,700,000.

Of the other four tenders, one was over the estimated cost, one was right on the estimated cost, and two others were lower than the estimate.

Langenburg Redi-Mix is currently working on a $7.5 million provincial contract to resurface the Mine Road from Rocanville to the Nutrien mine site.

RM of Moosomin CAO Kendra Lawrence says the project coming in lower than expected will make a big difference.

“That has allowed us to give instructions to the engineer to begin the review of the electrical plans with us, the development group, and even begin the instructions for tender document preparation,” she says. “Knowing that that’s coming, that will be our next step.

“That has a price tag of about $1.4 million for the electrical but that was with absolutely everything that was in the design plan. We haven’t reviewed it to determine whether or not there were any things that we could possibly remove that might be cost savings. So we do have a bit of work ahead of us, but it was so much in the long range that it wasn’t the primary focus to make sure that we’re ready for it. Now with this much in savings, it’s brought it forward so much quicker.”

The latest the airport paving can be completed is September 15. Currently Langenburg Redi-Mix is working on the highway between Rocanville and the Nutrien mine site.

“They’re doing the preparation along the ditches and then I think there was possibly some widening that was supposed to occur on that highway, so they’re already out there working,” says Lawrence.

“September 15 was the tender document timeline request. Ultimately it could be extended if there were extenuating circumstances, but we want it finished by then so we aren’t dealing with wet weather.”

What was the reaction when the tender came in lower than expected?

“I think shock, disbelief and then the excitement set in,” says Lawrence. “That we were able to proceed and then notify everyone else that it had come in so much under budget, and what that meant to the fundraising group. Knowing that our efforts had paid off and that now, maybe, we don’t have to strive quite as hard, but we’ll still be working hard to keep moving towards those goals to have them complete.”

Lawrence says in order to cover the cost of both the paving and electrical, more donations still need to come in, however, and the timeline for the electrical is dependent on those donations.

“If we’re doing both, then yes, definitely there would still be some funds that need to be obtained, donated and contributed. The electrical would coincide with the continued response from the donations to determine whether or not we go to tender. We need to make sure that we’ve got the majority of those funds in place.

“It feels really nice to have the paving contract awarded because even with that, it gives us say, a 75 per cent timeframe for the plane to be able to land, and the electrical component will get us the rest of the way and closer to that 100 per cent mark to being able to give that healthcare service to the region.”