Cabarrus Cheap Seats

I’m taking a brief respite from my long days at work (what April is for accountants - 4th Quarter is for EPRI) and my longer nights studying Venturi meters with any variety of fluids going through them, Rankine cycle analysis with reheat, and the nuances of Net-Present Value calculations to address, point by point, Harold’s most error-filled statement yet…his claim that the tunnel to the Jail Annex was off by 13 feet and Alex Rankin, Turner Construction, and, perhaps, Santa Claus are to blame.

Here’s what he said:

Tunnel to Nowhere? 

Turner Construction just completed a tunnel from the New Annex Jail site under Corban Avenue to the current Jail.

Guess What? The tunnel is 13 feet off. It connects to a dead end.

Did Alex Rankin design a tunnel to nowhere? How can this happen? Did the Jail move during the night? What a joke! Will the taxpayers had to pay for this mistake?

Your tax dollars at work. I have heard the phrase “pouring money down a rat hole.” Now the county is pouring tax dollars down a dead end tunnel.

Harold Smith

I called around and got some facts.

First, Turner Construction has not completed the tunnel yet. When digging, crews discovered some utility lines that weren’t previously identified. They have to take extra effort in moving them, causing a delay. As an historical note, they discovered an old landfill during their tunneling - I guess these things happen when digging under the oldest part of town.

Second, 13 feet off? Remember Geometry and Trig. Let’s say you’re digging a tunnel spanning 100 feet. You’d have to be off by nearly 8 degrees from your origin to wind up 13 feet off. 8 degrees is huge - if you’re off by 8 degrees when parking your car in a crowded lot, you may find an angry letter when you return. I don’t think the tunnel is 100 feet long and that would make the necessary error in the angle even greater than 8 degrees.

The truth: When reviewing the plans, Turner Construction suggested amending the plans to include improved angles in the tunnel based on survey data and recalculations that would have put the tunnel, when completed, off by a matter of inches - not yards. They were doing their job.

Third, Alex Rankin didn’t design the tunnel. The only involvement that Alex Rankin had in the project was some survey work in consolidating the original plats (there were around 6 or so) into one plat for the site. He was not involved in the initial site survey and he didn’t design the tunnel.

Fourth, and this is interesting. Even if there were a tunnel that was 13 feet off and it was Turner’s fault - the taxpayers would have been protected by the fact they are hired At-Risk. For those who don’t recall - in an At-Risk arrangement the Construction Manager assumes financial risk for errors and omissions - like a tunnel being off. Now, if you remember back to the debate about hiring Turner and the terms of the contract - Coy Privette was skeptical about hiring a construction manager and doing so in an At-Risk manner. If Coy Privette had his way, any error would have gone undetected and, if it had been detected, the taxpayers would have eaten the overage. The fact that the County hired a Construction Manager in a prudent arrangement a bit more important to your wallet than whether or not the supplier of a subcontractor may have at one time hired an illegal alien - don’t ya think?

It’s back to Darcy friction factors and Orsat analysis for me. If there are any of you left that don’t take a Harold Smith e-mail with at least one mole of NaCl - you may want to have your head examined.