THE City of Perth will pay over $800,000 to replace granite pavers on Parliament Place and Harvest Terrace with bitumen less than six years after the pavers were laid at a cost of |$1 million.
Maintenance has proved expensive due to ongoing failures of joints and bedding for the granite pavers, a challenge made worse by limited access to the road when Parliament is in session.
A City spokeswoman said the impact of Parliament’s needs have “made it problematic for the City to effectively replace any granite pavers lost due to joint failures, as the required duration of road closure to achieve the necessary curing times cannot be achieved”, which has caused “ongoing complications”.
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She said the 2011 Parliament Place works were contracted to Downer EDI and were funded entirely by the City.
MG Group were sub-contracted to carry out the works. Their website states: “This contract was completed in February 2011 – within the required timescale and budget. This project was the enhancement of the roadway of Parliament Place and Harvest Terrace. The project crew of The MG Group worked consistently for six days a week for the duration of the works to achieve the very much reduced contract period”.
Last year, four years after the ill-fated granite pavers were laid on Harvest Tce and surrounds, MG Group completed the lift and relay of granite paving in Hay Street Mall. The City spokeswoman said “the works were compliant and completed to the City’s satisfaction”.
The contract award value of the new Parliament Place works is $758,830, excluding GST, and will be carried out by CIVCON.
“The project has come in under the expected budget, with further savings made after the City combined the works with adjacent works to the Harvest Terrace Cycle path, to minimise both contractor costs and community disruption,” she said.
“It is of note that the City advertises tenders openly and adopts a best value approach when awarding contracts.”