Joachim A. Henry P.O.

Box GM 987
Castries
Tel. # 459-0687/452-4298
E-mail Joachim168@hotmail.com

December 11, 2013

Mr. Dale Trim
Goodlands
Castries
St. Lucia
Dear Mr. Trim:

RE: ASSESMENT GABION BASKET WALL AT NEW VILAGE

A site investigation was conducted on Sunday, November 24, 2013 on the above
mention project and I wish to report the following:

Contractor : Mr. Dale Trim

Employer : Government of Saint Lucia

Project Engineer : Mr. Robertson Felicien

The Contractor invited me to visit the site location and review the contract bills of
quantities which have framed a contract for the works as described below:
The work includes the establishment of approximately 150 gabion baskets to form
a retaining wall along a section of the New Village River approximately 150 meters
away from the road.

Route to site location using an existing footpath

Mr. Dale Trim 2 12/11/2013

Works are in advance stage and is nearing completion

Due to the location of the project, it is in my opinion that the construction process
offers challenges beyond the normal scope expected for fully manual approach.
Therefore it is my professional opinion that some of the rates used in this contract
are low for the nature of risk and the level of difficulty for this particular job. In
particular a work study was conducted on the double handling process using the
bobcat services and a modest rate was considered. Additionally investigation was
made with regards to Gabion Baskets rates were investigated from other public
Mr. Dale Trim 3 12/11/2013

sector projects and a suitable rate was adopted. In this regard the following are
recommended.
1. Preliminaries
There are no preliminaries provisions made for this job. The contractor
purchased employers liability. In a normal contract even if the contractor
appropriated the risks, he would still have the opportunity to price other
ancillary services to include site offices, security on the job, water for the work,
site office support, clerk of works, financing charges, statutory obligations and
other support necessary to facilitate the construction works. These preliminaries
is estimated to costs approximately $28,800.00 or approximately 12% of the
measured works.
2. Excavation for foundations in materials order than top soil …maximum
depth 0.5 – 1 meter. Recommended rate is $70.00 per cubic meter and not
$56.25 as offered
3. Excavation for foundations in in rock …maximum depth 0.5 – 1 meter.
Recommended rate is $100.00 per cubic meter and not $82.96 as offered
4. Rock filled gabion boxes to retaining structure 2m X 1m X 1m. The
recommended rate is $1500.00 per box and not $937.79 as offered.
5. Geotextile material to protect interface of gabion baskets and fill materials.
The recommended rate is $36.00 per square meter and not $24.89 as
offered.
6. Provisional sum for doubling handling of materials. The recommended rate
is $65.00 per cubic meter and not $40.76 as offered. To date the cost of
double handling to the contractor is approximately $31,000.00 with a
request of an additional eight basket to install.
In this regard the total cost of the project is shown below:
Mr. Dale Trim 4 12/11/2013

Item Description Unit Quantity Rate Amt.

1 Preliminaries sum $28000.00
2 Excavation in material other than M3 47 70.00 $3290.00
top soil ….
3 Excavation in rock M3 47 100.00 $4700.00
4 Provisional sum for pumping sum $8437.50
water
5 Rock filled gabion basket nr 150 1300 $195000.00
2mx1mx1m
6 Geotextile material to protect M2 225 36 $8100.00
interface of gabion basket
7 Backfill of gabion basket M3 244 126.67 $30907.48
8 Provisional sum for river works sum $5000.00
9 Provisional sum for doubling M3 544 65.00 $35360.00
10 Total $318,794.48

Please note that similar works have been implemented for prices in excess of this
amount but the amount stated can be negotiated downward bearing in mind that
there is some commitment made for the offered sum of $240434.53.
My advised is that a meeting be convened in order to resolve the situation.

Joachim A. Henry, ICIOB, M.I.S (Inc), MSc, BSc.