Morrisburg roundabout project on schedule

nnMORRISBURG – One of the largest road projects in South Dundas since the St. Lawrence Seaway in the 1950s continues to be on time as the project nears the halfway point.nnSDG Counties Director of Transportation Ben deHaan tells The Leader that most of the underground work is complete for the Morrisburg roundabout project.nn“All the underground work is more or less done now,” he said explaining that the above ground work goes faster.nn“There are always surprises when you’re working underground, but once you get to that top level, it starts to go fast.”nnAccording to deHaan the project has not run into any major issues or delays so far.nn“We had some little ones to be expected like pipe conflicts or where you have to adjust an elevation slightly. We were expecting that,” he said. “A lot of those kind of things always happen and you try to prevent it as much as you can. But you’re still stuck with it when you are into old pipes.”nnThe project broke ground in late-June after some delays. The project was to begin in 2020 but federal approval of the Investing Canada Infrastructure Program was delayed by nearly 10 months.nnOnce the project received funding, the initial round of tender bids were millions over budget, prompting SDG to change the project scope and re-tender. Local contractor, Coco Group Limited, was the sole bidder on the project.nnMuch of the work seen so far has been tearing things apart, from grinding asphalt to removing concrete and utility poles. deHaan explained that much of what has been torn apart is reusable.nn“Asphalt is one of the most recycled materials in the world,” he said. “There is value in that product and it is being reused.”nndeHaan added that much of the materials in public works projects like this are recycled or reclaimed, including excess fill and old concrete.nn“It’s not just with this project but all our projects,” he said. “Anything we can reuse or recycle, we do.”nnThe roundabout and street-scape project will rehabilitate a section of County Road 2 in Morrisburg from Pilot Way to St. Lawrence Street, including the intersection with County Road 31/Ottawa Street.nnMajor construction work on the $4.2 million project is set to wrap up by the end of the 2021 construction season in late-Fall, with landscaping completed in Spring 2022.