Tender awarded for nearly $2.9 million rehabilitation of Perth Road 130, Perth Line 29

A nearly $2.9 million rehabilitation of Perth Road 130, which includes similar work on an abutting section of Perth Line 29, is about to get underway.

At the May 15 Perth County council meeting, county council awarded the project contract to GIP Paving Inc. of Petersburg at an estimated cost of $2,884,000. Following approvals from both Perth South and Perth East councils, the project will include the rehabilitation of roughly seven kilometres of Perth Road 130 from Perth Line 20 to the Goderich-Exeter Railway crossing in Sebringville – all of which is county roadway – roughly two kilometres of Perth Road 130 from Highway 8 to Perth Line 36 under Perth East’s jurisdiction, and about six kilometres of Perth South roadway along Perth Line 29 from Perth Road 130 to Stratford city limits.

“The scope of the project includes recycling and repaving through the rural-roads section, drainage improvements within the built-up limits of the Village of Avonton, two culvert replacements and improvements to the rail crossing,” county director of public works Bill Wilson said.

“ … In addition to the county’s capital project, Perth East and Perth South have similarly scoped capital construction projects on roads abutting the county’s project. Working with both municipalities, staff have included the work of Perth East and Perth South under this tender in separate parts specific to their projects as a mechanism to better control and coordinate construction in the field, and to increase tender quantities for more favourable (materials) pricing.”

Broken down, the county’s portion of the work is expected to cost more than $1.9 million – well under the $2.45 million budgeted for the project this year – while Perth South’s portion of the project is expected to cost nearly $709,000 and the Perth East portion is estimated at a little more than $231,000.

“The per-kilometre cost, without calculating it, I can say is less than what we would have experienced in 2024’s projects,” Wilson said in response to a question about cost from Coun. Todd Kasenberg. “Through the results of this tender and the other ones that closed, I can say the price for hot-mix asphalt is down from where it was last year and we’re also seeing a reduction in price for some of the recycling work. I believe that’s due to market conditions and the amount of work that’s out there.”

Wilson said the successful contactor has completed similarly scoped work for the county before, including the rehabilitation of a portion of Perth Line 36 in 2020 and the resurfacing of Perth Line 86 last year. While Wilson said the work GIP Paving has done for the county was completed with few issues, Coun. Bob Wilhelm noted Perth South council was unhappy with recent work completed by the company in that township.

“Last year, Perth South had GIP do some work and the quality was very disappointing,” Wilhelm said. “I’d like to just ensure that Perth County will receive top-quality work and that we’re expecting good quality.”

In response, Wilson said county staff have discussed the issues with Perth South staff and is aware of the challenges during that project, and he assured council the county follows a strict process for monitoring and evaluating the quality of the work throughout the project. That process involves county staff and consultants conducting regular inspections, material testing and profiling the affected sections of roadway before the project begins and after it is complete to ensure quality.

While no exact timeline for the work was available during the council meeting, Wilson said work is expected to begin in late May or early June. The contractor is required to maintain single-lane traffic during all phases of construction except for short-duration, full road closures to accommodate culvert replacements and rail-crossing improvements.

Exact details of the project will be communicated with the public prior to its commencement.