Unexpected rock removal adds up to $600,000 to East Middle School project in Westminster
Unexpected rock removal at the site of the new East Middle School’s bus loop and parking lot in Westminster will cost the Carroll County Public Schools system up to $600,000.
The county’s school board unanimously approved a change order allocating the additional funds to the project on Dec. 13.
The rock’s existence was unknown when the school board approved the $65.9 million construction project to replace the 85-year-old building used as East Middle School on Longwell Avenue. Construction had otherwise finished on-track and just under budget, CCPS construction supervisor James Marks told the school board.
The new, three-level, 126,000 square-foot school building opened in September for a population of 790 students. Construction of the school’s bus loop and parking lot were not complete when the school opened and construction has been delayed due to the rock issue.
The original plan called for the bus loop to be completed by winter break.
“Rock is something that you just don’t always know when it’s going to happen,” Marks said. “You don’t always know if we’ve had enough drilling to know what’s beneath.”
Blasting was determined to be the most effective method of rock removal, at a cost of $99 per cubic yard of rock. Marks said that includes drilling for rock discovery and onsite rock burial, which was determined to be cheaper than hauling. The rock removal rate was originally twice as high, Marks added, before successful negotiations with the construction company handling the project, Dustin Construction, Inc.
The contract change order approved by the school board may not exceed $600,000, though it may cost less.
“We were between a rock and a hard place, we definitely were,” Board of Education President Marsha Herbert said at the Dec. 13 meeting. “I’m so glad that you all stopped, renegotiated, went forward, and saved us money in the long run when you were able to bury the rock right onsite. Because once you start hauling it off, it is very expensive. But there was no winner in this.”
Hydraulic drilling was considered as a solution, Marks said, but it was determined that it would create too much noise for East Middle students and community members.
The former school building was 120,400 square feet and was constructed in 1936. It served for 35 years as Westminster High School, then nearly 50 years as a middle school, until it was closed in June. Additions were built in 1941, 1950 and 1964, and it was last renovated in 1976. The school system began construction on the East Middle School replacement project in November 2021.
