By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
All construction projects have contingency costs – some small and some large. Monday night, through an added agenda item, the Great Bend City Council approved one of the latter. In July, the body approved a $5.2 million price tag for the demolition and construction of a new SRCA dragstrip west of town. Monday’s vote added $436,443 via an amendment to the project. City Administrator Logan Burns described the design change behind the price increase.
“Following the design-build process," he said, "and after consultations last week with subject-matter experts including concrete engineers, representatives from NHRA and SRCA, Bartlett & West, and city staff, it was determined that, for long-term durability, the racing lanes must be designed to withstand the extreme wear and tear from dragsters, and the impact of repeated track preparation activities.”
To mitigate those issues and enhance the longevity of the surface, the revised approach includes the installation of continuous reinforced pavement (CRP) in the racing lanes. The CRP will eliminate joints from 50 feet before the start line through 150 feet past the finish line. The CRP will also eliminate a center joint that would have stretched the duration of the quarter-mile lanes. Councilmember Kevin Soupiset asked how the issue was previously overlooked.
“This seems like a pretty big adjustment and change after weeks and weeks of this being under the microscope,” he said. “How come, all of a sudden, this has bubbled up versus previously?”
Burns explained the project is using a design-build approach, with issues getting resolved as they arise. A design-bid build would have potentially discovered any issues ahead of construction. The council agreed $100,000 of the expense would come from construction contingency funds, leaving a balance of $329,000 for any future changes with the project. The remaining balance will be paid using 2024 year-end transfer funds, leaving a balance of less than $50,000 for any projects around the city for the remainder of the year.
"I think, looking back, holding back the end-of-year transfers in the beginning of the year was very wise on our side because this would have been a disaster otherwise,” said Councilmember Cory Urban.
Councilmember Gary Parr asked Bartlett & West officials responsible for the design if there should be more savings if joints are not cut into the racing lanes every 12.5 feet as previously planned. Jim Rinner with Bartlett & West explained the $436,000 is still the net difference in cost after those savings.
Rinner also explained the previous concrete design was sufficient but drag racers require a particular type of finish on the lanes. Hank Denning, president of Sunflower Rod and Custom and previous operator of the dragstrip, said joints also become a maintenance issue.
“If you’re not paying attention to what you’re doing, and you have just one slip, you’ll chip that joint,” Denning said said. “We’re trying not to make any more maintenance than we have to.”
The old SRCA dragstrip utilized 20-foot-wide lanes. Denning said the 17.5-foot-wide lanes proposed are as narrow as he and NRHA officials felt comfortable with. The width comes down to the ability of new machines to create lanes at 17.5 feet, not 20, without a joint down the middle. Denning said the dragstrip in Brainerd, Minn., a town with a population similar to Great Bend’s, built a track with no joints but the cost exceeded Great Bend’s budget.
“It’s going to work,” Denning said. “It’s going to work for us, and NHRA is comfortable with it, but it came with a price tag.”