The Capital Regional District sewage treatment plant is being built at Esquimalt’s McLoughlin Point.
Construction of the Capital Regional District’s sewage treatment project could cost at least $10 million more than expected.
According to the project team, a hot construction market on Vancouver Island has led to an increase in the price of materials and labour.
“Particularly on the high-density polyethylene pipe, also on the steel components,” Deputy Project Director Elizabeth Scott said.
“That’s partly because of the import tariffs that have been imposed so we’ve got escalation on labour costs and escalation on material costs.”
In a report going to the project management board on Friday, finishing the project as planned could push the cost up to more than $30 million over the original $765 million budget but that could be dropped down to $10 million with some changes.
The increase will have to be covered by local taxpayers because federal and provincial contributions are capped. Grants from the provincial and federal governments are covering $459 million of the project cost.
The changes include eliminating three of the four remaining conveyance components as they may no longer be necessary due to reduced water consumption following the replacement of old water fixtures and appliances. Public use and building codes have also changed since the project was first designed.
According to the report, contracts that have been awarded so far for installing the conveyance pipes have cost more than expected, whittling down contingency funds.
The project is still expected to be completed by the end of 2020.
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