Lake Orion’s Streetscape Project is beginning to enter the reconstructive stage, and one of the noticeable changes has been the installation of bricks in the downtown.
Unfortunately, those bricks will have to be replaced.
Jamie Brown, a Professional Landscape Architect working on the project, said due to a delivery error, the wrong type of bricks were delivered to the construction site. After determining the bricks may not have had the correct density to withstand traffic in downtown, he and other inspectors on site began running test while workers installed the bricks in the meantime to save time in case they proved suitable. The test, however, proved the contrary.
‘Our order was correct, that is my understanding, because we knew what kind of brick we needed,? said Village Manager Paul Zelenak. ‘They delivered the wrong ones, and we don’t want to compromise the integrity of the project.?
Brown said the same, and added inspectors are in the downtown frequently to catch any errors that might occur.
‘We did a visual inspection on what was delivered, and the bricks simply did not meet our specifications,? said Brown. ‘Our team is employed to make sure what is installed meets those specifications, and when a contractor makes a mistake, it’s our job to see that it’s rectified.
‘This kind of thing happens all the time in construction projects, it’s not a big mistake, and it won’t effect the timeline.?
Downtown Development Authority Executive Director Suzanne Perreault added, while the mistake is an inconvenience, she’s happy it was caught now instead of ‘a year down the road.? She added it should take about a week to get a new shipment of proper bricks in while the laborers work on other sections of the downtown.
‘Our onsite inspector, Toby Dome, was looking for something on the brick – they were supposed to have a certain stamp,? she said. ‘When they found they didn’t have it, they made some phone calls to get the new bricks in and the old ones out, but this should not effect the timeline, which is good news.
‘I think it’s good that we’re correcting this mistake before it became a serious problem, and I think doing this now represents us being responsible to the public.?
The Streetscape project is overseen by the designing and engineering firm Wade Trim, and Dan’s Excavating is now providing the labor.