Record-setting rainfall over several months is pushing the completion date of the U.S. 81 improvement project to the end of the summer at the soonest, an Oklahoma Department of Transportation division engineer said last week.

Edmond-based paving contractor Duit Construction Co. began work June 25, 2018, on the $8.6 million project, which starts at Will Rogers Drive in Kingfisher and extends just over 3.3 miles south.

Northbound lanes were scheduled to be widened and completely reconstructed, which required stripping the pavement entirely and building up to the level of southbound lanes so that a center turning lane can be added in place of the grass median in some locations.

Once that work is completed, a shallower and faster resurfacing is scheduled for the southbound lanes, where shoulder improvements have already been completed.

The project originally was expected to be completed by springtime this year, but rain delays and other factors are pushing that completion date out to the end of summer at the soonest.

The delay is frustrating many local motorists, especially those with work commutes that take them through the construction corridor twice daily.

But ODOT representatives said the Kingfisher project has fallen victim to the same rainfall extremes that are exacerbating road construction schedules across the state.

“We’re asking motorists for their patience as projects statewide are being delayed by historic rainfall and flooding events,” ODOT Division 4 resident engineer Trenton January said. “This is an issue that is impacting dozens of projects and ODOT, the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, cities and counties are and will be seeing these types of weather delays on projects statewide.”

As of Friday, rain had fallen on all or part of 84 construction days since the Kingfisher project began, more than 30 percent of the contract period, according to ODOT.

Representatives of ODOT and Duit Construction spoke directly to local business owners last week who were concerned about the impact of ongoing construction on their daily operations.

After those conversations, January responded via email on Friday to the following questions submitted by the Times and Free Press about the project delays (our questions appear in bold, followed by January’s responses):

Is there a technical reason why the road work was not done in sections, rather than ripping up the whole length of the roadway and leaving it unusable for such a long period?

Certain areas have been done in sections, such as around Starlite Drive and the area south of Will Rogers, which was completed about a week ago.

The majority of the project on U.S. 81 mainline lanes has been done the full extent of the project for phasing purposes.

On this project, it is more efficient and cost-effective to do one process at a time to completion.

Each project has a unique set of circumstances and in this case due to space limitations, it was more efficient to do longer stretches.

The contractor is committed to opening sections as quickly as it is safe to do so. ODOT recently asked the contractor to move to the north edge of the project to complete that portion first before finishing toward the south end.

[Ed. note: State Sen. Darcy Jech of Kingfisher told the Times and Free Press he asked for work to be completed at the north end first (just south of Will Rogers Drive) to reduce inconvenience to the cluster of businesses located there.]

The contract time is listed as 265 days, which has come and gone. Is the contractor working in a penalty phase or has credit been given for rain delays?

Many variables impact contract timelines and contractors are not penalized for weather delays that prohibit work from happening.

With 84 rain delays so far on this project, the contractor still has about two weeks left on their adjusted contract time.

That calculation is not final and more days could be added for times when it was not raining, but it was still too wet to complete the work at that time. Of course, if more rain delays occur, that time will be credited.

With the amount of work left to complete, we question whether the contractor will be able to finish in the next two weeks as we estimate it’s likely to be August. That raises the possibility of late penalties assessed to the contractor, but many variables are yet to be decided.

If rain delay has been the issue, why is it that the Kingfisher Creek bridge project north of town, listed as a 365-day project, was not similarly delayed?

The bridge project north of town would not be as significantly delayed as it involved much less dirt work and more types of work that could be resumed soon after a rain event.

The combination of the amount of rain and the much larger amount of dirt work necessary on the U.S. 81 job south of Kingfisher results in more delays.

Part of this project is to level out the elevation difference between the northbound and southbound lanes, which is a different type of work with different time lines than the bridge replacement project at Kingfisher Creek.

Can you respond to the frustrations of local motorists who drove through the construction zones week after week without seeing any apparent work going on, rain or shine?

It may not always be readily apparent to the public that work is taking place as there are some processes that require several hours, if not days, such as new pavement needing to set or cure before the next step can be taken. Not always seeing workers is not a reliable indication that work is not being done.

Another common misconception is that as soon as the rain ends, work can start back up right away.

That is just not always the case, as in the stabilization portion of the project, which was dependent on the right moisture ratio for the soil and other materials being used to achieve a stable road base that can support the weight of pavement and traffic without sinking or fragmenting.

Can you provide a realistic estimate on the anticipated completion date?

Work is ongoing and all soil stabilization is now complete on the job, which was a significant factor in being able to move things forward. The contractor is working around the rain to install the next layer of the roadway base before paving can begin.

Concrete paving may begin sometime in the next two weeks, weather permitting.

From our last conversation with you, we thought the completion would be by July. With additional rain delays, the adjusted timeline for total completion is now August. However, we anticipate northbound U.S. 81 lanes finished before then.

Additional weather possibly could cause more delays, unfortunately, [which is] beyond anyone’s control.

We recognize that construction is not convenient to motorists and businesses. This project was very necessary to make safety and condition improvements as traffic continues to grow in this area and it represents an $8.6 million investment into Kingfisher infrastructure that we believe will benefit motorists for decades to come.