Ajax-based Road Surface Recycling demobilized from the site of a partially completed asphalt recycling project on The Kingsway, and its crews are unlikely to return to finish the project.
“Equipment moved off the site yesterday,” Road Surface Recycling vice president technology and research Frank Crupi told Sudbury.com on Friday.
“It’s back in Toronto for some minor maintenance things, and then it’s off to the next job, which we have a couple of delays on because we’re too early.”
The contractor was in charge of an asphalt recycling pilot project along a stretch of The Kingsway, from east of Second Avenue to near the Highway 17 bypass. The city put a stop to the project last week to test the quality of their work.
The testing follows Ontario Provincial Standards specifications, city engineering services director David Shelsted told Sudbury.com earlier this week, and will take three to four weeks to see results. Although the city is not legally mandated by the province to undertake the tests, he said the city is doing so, “to ensure we’re representing value for money.”
As long as the results meet specifications, Shelsted said the contractor would be expected to complete the contract.
The hot in-place asphalt recycling pilot project on The Kingsway is a new process for the city, and uses recycled material on the surface, where liquid asphalt binds it together.
Frustrated by the work stoppage, Crupi answered the city’s action by distributing an open letter to city staff espousing the project’s merits and criticizing the city for putting it on pause.
Although Shelsted clarified that the contractor is entitled to take on other projects while they wait for the test results, Crupi said they’re not going to be returning this year.
“We can’t,” he said. “They’ve wasted the time we allotted to them, which was to the end of July.”
Whether they return next year will be up to the city, he said, adding they’d probably come back if they didn’t have to deal with certain city administrators.
Meanwhile, Crupi said he stands by their work and is collecting data he says will prove his company’s work holds up over time. His hope is that city council members will intervene.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.