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Engineer: Liberty Curtin project well on its way

BLANCHARD -- The new elementary school project for Liberty Curtin is well on its way and nearly a quarter of the way completed.

That was the word from Jeff Straub, representing Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associates, during a presentation to the Keystone Central School District Board of Directors.

The board heard the update during its work session Thursday, where Straub noted the construction phase of the projects is roughly 23 percent complete.

"We are currently on schedule for the project for an Aug. 11, 2025 completion," he said. "If any extensions or requests are processed with contractors we would be tracking those and presenting them to you as they would occur. But nothing has been presented at this time."

According to Straub, the contract duration is 577 days, with the project 134 days in.

"We're roughly about 23 percent through the project," he said. "And we're 17 percent through the project as far as billing."

Straub said these percentages are typical for a project like this.

"Really the first two months there was limited billing because we're more going through paperwork with contractors with all the materials they'd be using," he said. "Now we're really about three months into construction."

Three months in, Straub said the construction is making good time, with the footprint of the new elementary school in place.

So far the following parts of the project were completed or nearing completing: stormwater basins installed; the foundation for 90 percent of the building is in the ground; temporary parking is in place; concrete block walls are going up in the classroom wings; structural steel framing for the main lobby and core of the building was delivered and installation started; many of the underground utilities are installed; and concrete floor slabs are being put in place.

Straub said the final reviews by the administration and material submissions by the contractors are about 85 percent completed.

"The takeaway from these is that almost all of the site has been taken up by the new building," Straub said. "Trying to fit two schools on the campus at the same time is going to be a lot and there's both accommodating contractors but really making sure we don't affect the education of the students during the whole construction project."

The presentation featured photographs of the ongoing construction that included the installation of the block walls by 18 to 20 masons, the installation of the retention pond to meet Department of Environmental Protection requirements and concrete slab work.

"More than likely those photos will expand in the future. There's not a lot to see (now) because really we're just coming out of the ground," Straub said. "Eventually we'll have photos of each sector of the building."

Straub also presented the board with a payment log that includes the original contract costs, net change orders that are processed along with payments to date for contractors.

The payment log also includes information about retainage. Straub explained early in the construction project, Crabtree will withhold roughly 10 percent of payment for its contractors.

"Early in the project we hold 10 percent for all contractors. Halfway through the project, if they are performing well, there's a contract requirement that allows them to go down to five percent," Straub said. "If they're not performing well we can keep it at 10 percent."

"The goal there is to make sure the contractors are performing through the project. So you as the district do not get into a situation where you've overpaid for work that may not have been installed correctly," he continued.

Straub also touched on the contingency amount required by the Department of Education.

"The national average is usually 10 percent contingency. We typically for schools are much less... budgeting for 2 to 5 percent contingency," he said.

The district, through its Act 34 budget, has pledged $542,000 for potential additional costs on the project.

Only 2.3 percent of the contingency has been used so far, Straub said.

"We've actually only processed two change orders and we have one in review at this time," he said. "We're substantially under that (2 to 5 percent). Hopefully we keep that number low."

Straub said Crabtree intends to provide an update to the board on the project quarterly to keep them in the loop on construction.

"Typically we'll have a summary, project photos with just a short overview of what is occurring in those photos, a payment log where we currently are with the contractors and typically we'll have a change order log for the project," he said.