Early tendering allowed millions in extra roadwork, says minister

The provincial government says it was able to do extra roadwork in 2017 because of the savings it found with early contract tendering.

On Wednesday the province unveiled its list of roadwork projects for 2018, about 75 per cent of which was announced last year.

It's part of the province's five-year plan for roadwork, to give communities and contractors more notice on when and where projects will happen.

This year $77.2 million will be spent on road construction, the same as last year.

• Read the full list of roadwork for 2018

But last year the tenders came in about $7 million less than the government had budgeted, so more work was tendered in August.

"The tenders last year in August weren't at all late tenders; they were tenders for work that we were able to add to our plan last year because of savings we found from our early tendering process," said Steve Crocker, the minister of Transportation and Works.

Jim Organ of the Heavy Civil Association of Newfoundland and Labrador said the early tendering and five-year plan has helped companies get the equipment and people they need, reducing their costs and leading to lower bids for work.

He expects government to see savings of several million dollars a year.

No night projects this year

The minister said the department looked for projects that might work for nighttime construction but he said there aren't any this year that would be appropriate.

Last year the province tried it on one stretch of work on the Trans-Canada Highway.

It required a detour so crews can work on the road at night, but then doesn't disrupt traffic during the day.

Crocker said in future years they'll look for projects that can be done overnight.