New Casper Mountain Trails Center parking lot obstacles could cost more than $168K to fix
CASPER, Wyo. — Unforeseen complications with the construction of the new Casper Mountain Trails Center’s parking lot could add over $168,000 to the total cost, the Natrona County Board of County Commissioners learned on Tuesday.
According to Natrona County Parks Director Michael Brown, the recently expanded parking lot features a large soft spot that needs to be repaired.
“When you drive over, you create ruts that over time cause deformation in the ground. The wetter the ground is, the more deformation there is,” Brown said. “It creates conditions where vehicles could get stuck and sink. … The soil isn’t as hard as it should be, so it moves and gives way.”
At Tuesday afternoon’s Board of Commissioners work session, Brown recommended digging down 30 inches and installing a base geo-grid with multiple layers of gravel and a French drain along the side.
“That way, any water that goes through the area will have an exit,” Brown said.
To install the recommended repairs, Brown said workers would need to excavate an area 30 inches deep, 100 feet wide and 80 feet long. The area is about a quarter of the total size of the newly expanded parking lot, and Brown said the problem wasn’t an issue before because the affected area was not previously part of the parking lot. Brown gave the commissioners a cost estimate of $168,976 from Caspar Construction for the excavation work. However, he said he does not yet have an estimate for how much the French drain will cost.
However, the county commissioners expressed reservations about Brown’s request. Commission chairman Peter Nicolaysen said he wants to see additional testing done to the spot before signing off on the work.
“It seems to me that we might be rushing into this change order before really knowing the full extent of the problem, including your anecdotal observation of pumping,” Nicolaysen said, referring to the phenomena where groundwater and unstable soil cause the ground to shift.
“I think we’re just doing things based on hope [if the additional work is approved without more testing],” Nicolaysen added.
Other commissioners were similarly wary. Commissioner Steve Freel said he won’t commit to anything without getting a cost estimate for the drain itself.
Commissioner Dallas Laird expressed frustration at how the problem was not identified earlier by contractors or county workers.
“We’re hiring all these people and they’ve all missed this?” he said. “Did you miss it yourself? Did the contractors miss it? Did the architect? Who missed it?”