The demolition of Audrain Medical Center is getting more expensive as remediation work uncovers additional asbestos-containing materials and other work that needs to be addressed.

During the AMC remediation, contractors identified five key areas that require additional work ranging from asbestos-containing flooring and building panels to refrigerant recovery and additional asbestos sampling, Drew Williford, public works director, told city council at its Aug. 10 meeting. 

The total cost of the first change order is $70,585.

“When you’re dealing with these kinds of projects, running into these unknowns is somewhat to be expected,” Williford said. 

The initial contract cost $758,878 and will be funded through the city’s cost-share agreement with Audrain County. As such, the city will reimburse the county that additional $70,585. 

Since change orders were expected, Williford said the project was structured as a base bid that included contingency line items to cover additional work related to the remediation of asbestos-containing materials and hazardous material/universal waste.

“The reason we do that is because if we don’t, then the contractor will assume all the unknowns exist and their initial bid price is going to be very, very high,” Williford said.

According to Williford, 2,035 square feet of mastic flooring, which had not been tested, was found to contain asbestos. Remediation will cost $11,192. A fume hood that contains asbestos was found in room 1175, and its removal will cost $750. The recovery of refrigerant and asbestos sampling will cost $1,667. Also, 192 square feet of building panels from 1964 that contain asbestos will need to be removed from the second and third floor. The cost for that project is $1,536. 

The biggest contributor to the overage, Williford said, was the additional pipe fittings. 

Pipes with asbestos-containing fittings and valves situated behind multiple layers of sheetrock were hidden from the initial inspection, which was conducted by CSI Engineering. Remediation on the 1,386 units will cost an additional $55,440. Despite the oversight, Williford said CSI’s inspection was well done. 

“It’s not that by missing this, they did a poor job,” he said. “These are just very difficult to find when you’re talking about a project that consists of multiple additions, renovations and almost 100 years of such.” 

At the meeting, Williford said he expected at least another $25,000 in change orders that have already been evaluated. He added that the city has sufficient funding to cover the change order. 

“By the end of this project, it is highly likely we’ll be at $100,000 in change orders related to all the work here,” Williford said