Skip to main content

PA: Contractor defaults...work stopped on Findlay Connector

Image
By
Construction on the southern two and a half miles of the Findlay Connector, which will connect US 22 to PA 60 and the Pittsburgh Airport, has ground to a halt recently. The reason, the contractor, Smith and Johnson, was declared in default by the PA Turnpike commission as a result of Smith and Johnson's financial woes. See article in today's Post-Gazette.

Smith and Johnson was awarded the contract to build Section 54C which runs from US 22 near Bavington to just north of Bald Knob Road. The contract included interchanges at US 22 and Bald Knob Road. According to the Post-Gazette article: Section 54C is 65 percent complete while Sections 54A and 54B are 77 and 76 percent complete, respectively. Most of the troubles began in the fall. And although a bridge carrying Candor Road over US 22 was demolished in late January, Smith and Johnson was pulling out from the construction site. On January 18, the Turnpike Commission offered the company a chance to right the ship, but those efforts failed and the Turnpike declared them in default on February 8.

Problems in addition to falling behind schedule include shortpaying or not paying at all their subcontractors and suppliers.

This would be the third major project in two states that Smith and Johnson has pulled out of. In September of 2005, Smith and Johnson halted work on a six mile segment of a 50 mile highway called the O'Bannon Expressway in Southern Indiana. Citing unanticipated $3,000 fuel costs and began a tussle with Indiana over who should pay for the additional costs.

According to this WISH-TV news story from September 15, 2005:
Indiana Department of Transportation officials said the contractor is bound by its contract to complete the job for the price it bid and that the state has no policy for allowing fuel-cost escalations. "This is very unusual. This hasn't happened anywhere else (in the state) this year," said department spokeswoman Afua Anokwa.
The company also stopped work on a US 231 project in Rockport, Indiana at the same time. The company, as a result laid off 30 employees.

It appears that this was a ploy to get INDOT's attention. Bob Johnson, general superintendent for S &J, said in a September 16, 2005 issue of Land Line Online that it was standard procedure for other partners to absorb part of the cost.
“There is sort of a standard they’ve used in other states,” he said. “The contractor absorbs the first 20 percent. Then after that, the governing agency or the contracting agency usually helps out with the fuel cost.”
The state ordered them back to work and they obliged.

However, according to today's article...it appears the company has gone out of business.
"As far as we know, they closed down the highway construction side of their business," Mr. Agnello said. "Basically, they're out of business."
As this develops, more will be reported here.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Morgan Territory Road

By
Morgan Territory Road is an approximately 14.7-mile-long roadway mostly located in the Diablo Range of Contra Costa County, California.  The roadway is named after settler Jerimah Morgan who established a ranch in the Diablo Range in 1857.  Morgan Territory Road was one of several facilities constructed during the Gold Rush era to serve the ranch holdings.   The East Bay Regional Park District would acquire 930 acres of Morgan Territory in 1975 in an effort to establish a preserve east of Mount Diablo. The preserve has since been expanded to 5,324 acres. The preserve functionally stunts the development along roadway allowing it to remain surprisingly primitive in a major urban area. Part 1; the history of Morgan Territory Road During the period of early period of American Statehood much of the Diablo Range of Contra Costa County was sparsely developed.   Jerimah Morgan acquired 2,000 acres of land east of Mount Diablo in 1856 and established a ranch in 1857. Morgan Territory Road is
2 comments
Read more

Interstate 210 the Foothill Freeway

By
The combined Interstate 210/California State Route 210 corridor of the Foothill Freeway is approximately 85.31-miles.  The Interstate 210/California State Route 210 corridor begins at Interstate 5 at the northern outskirts of Los Angeles and travels east to Interstate 10 in Redlands of San Bernardino County.  Interstate 210 is presently signed on the 44.9-mile segment of the Foothill Freeway between Interstate 5 and California State Route 57.  California State Route 210 makes up the remaining 40.41 miles of the Foothill Freeway east to Interstate 10.  Interstate 210 is still classified by the Federal Highway Administration as existing on what is now signed as California State Route 57 from San Dimas south to Interstate 10.  The focus of this blog will mostly be on the history of Interstate 210 segment of the Foothill Freeway.   Part 1; the history of Interstate 210 and California State Route 210 Interstate 210 (I-210) was approved as a chargeable Interstate during September of
Post a Comment
Read more

Old Sonoma Road

By
  Old Sonoma Road is an approximately five-mile highway located in the Mayacamas Mountains of western Napa County.  The roadway is part of the original stage road which connected Napa Valley west to Mission San Francisco Solano as part of El Camino Real.  Much of Old Sonoma Road was bypassed by the start of the twentieth century by way of Sonoma Highway.  A portion of Old Sonoma Road over the 1896 Carneros Creek Bridge (pictured as the blog cover) was adopted as part of Legislative Route Number 8 upon voter approval of the 1909 First State Highway Bond Act.  The 1896 Carneros Creek Bridge served as a segment of California State Route 37 and California State Route 12 from 1934 through 1954.  Part 1; the history of Old Sonoma Road Old Sonoma Road has origins tied to the formation of Mission San Francisco Solano and the Spanish iteration of El Camino Real.  Mission San Francisco Solano was founded as the last and most northern Spanish Mission of Alta California on July 4, 1823.  The new M
Post a Comment
Read more