Turbine components are prepared to head to the South Fork Wind farm from the State Pier in New London, Conn., in 2023.
Photo: Ted Shaffrey/AP
Kiewit Corp. and the Connecticut Port Authority are preparing to begin mediation over tens of millions of dollars the contractor giant believes it is owed for the multiyear renovation of a critical state pier in New London, port officials said.
The total amount sought by Kiewit on the pier project is $35 million, according to media accounts of interviews with port officials. Of that, $7.1 million is an amount withheld by the port, the reports say.
Port officials chose not to make public the detailed financial discussions of the contract but have not disputed the amounts published by Connecticut news outlets.
Therenovation carried out under Kiewit’s guaranteed-price contract is a showpiece economic development project, with part of its cost being paid by Ørsted, the Denmark-based renewable energy company that used the pier to assemble and stage components for a major offshore wind development.
A year ago, the port published a summary of all that had been accomplished on what was then given as a $274-million overall project that was 99% complete. Tthe exact amount of Kiewit’s contract is not known. A photo montage showed the pier’s installation berth with massive components laid out for transport for offshore wind turbines. Conn. Gov. Ned Lamont is shown giving a tour.
Both the Port Authority and Kiewit have stated they are working cooperatively to a resolution. Although the port contract has not yet closed out, the pier is “fully functional,” noted Port Authority Executive Director Michael O’Connor. But he also told board members at a July 15 meeting in Old Saybrook, Conn., that the port wanted Kiewit to fix two aspects of its work that officials claim were not built according to the design.
In December, the port authority’s chairman, Paul Whitescarver, outlined the issues in an email to state lawmakers. One involved the toe on the east side of the pier. It was supposed to provide 2.65 ft of clearance so that vessels docked there would not contact the wall in heavy weather. Instead, the toes only provide one quarter of the required separation in places.
The expense should be shouldered by Kiewit, Whitescarver said in his email.
Another issue involved the pier’s south wall, which Whitescarver noted was supposed to be able to support or withstand loads of up to 650 lbs per sq ft. “Both sides are coming to a consensus that piles either steel or wooden, can be driven into the area that will provide enough strength,” he wrote.
Kiewit has in public statements denied responsibility for the problems.
“The issues noted by the [port] can be directly traced to site conditions that did not match those identified in the contract,” a Kiewit spokeswoman told the Connecticut Post. “Throughout the project, we communicated with the CPA about these issues and worked diligently in close partnership with them to address these unexpected conditions.”
She added that the firm continues “to work closely and actively collaborate” with the port, “including determining accountability for associated costs.”
Deputy Editor Richard Korman helps run ENR’s business and legal news and investigations, selects ENR’s commentary and oversees editorial content on ENR.com. In 2023 the American Society of Business Publication Editors awarded Richard the Stephen Barr Award, the highest honor for a single feature story or investigation, for his story on the aftermath of a terrible auto crash in Kentucky in 2019, and in 2015 the American Business Media awarded him the Timothy White Award for investigations of surety fraud and workplace bullying. A member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Richard has been a fellow on drone safety with the McGraw Center for Business Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Richard’s freelance writing has appeared in the Seattle Times, the New York Times, Business Week and the websites of The Atlantic and Salon.com. He admires construction projects that finish on time and budget, compensate all team members fairly and record zero fatalities or serious injuries.