Restore T.R.U.S.T.

This article first appeared in Stillwater News Press.

Jessica Jackson
Stillwater NewsPress

May 06, 2009 11:28 am

— Despite persistent rain, Stillwater’s major construction projects should be completed on time because the Public Works Department builds weather days into the schedules.

The number of rain and weather days budgeted into the work schedule is according to what Oklahoma Department of Transportation estimates is the average number of delays days that will occur each month, Public Works Director Ralph Kinder said.

According to the Oklahoma State University Agronomy Research Station, Stillwater has had 4 inches of rain since April 27. And more rain is forecast for the rest of the week and into the weekend, City Emergency Management Technician Rob Hill said.

So far, the University Avenue reconstruction project has had 23 rain days through the end of April, with 10 in January and eight in April, Kinder said. The other five days were in February and March.

He said while extra days will push back the official completion date — the date when the project has to be done without penalty — he still expects the project to finish by mid-September as originally projected. The workers have done 34 percent of the work in 35 percent of the time, he said.

On the 12th Avenue reconstruction project, workers had 10 weather days but have completed 12 percent of the work in 8 percent of the time, Kinder said. That project is projected to be finished by the end of January next year.