Hangar construction at the Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport has been thrown off schedule by about two months due to what officials say is shoddy construction of the building’s concrete base.
Airport director Blake Swafford said the initial pouring of concrete for the slab, which will serve as the floor for the 25,000-square-foot hangar area, was noticeably unlevel.
He said the contract called for the concrete slab to be level within a quarter of an inch for every 10 feet of the slab poured. However, in some places, it is an inch off from being level, which is four times the highest variable.
“The slab is not acceptable,” Swafford said.
Officials with the contractor, Earley Construction of Rockmart, has seen the issue with the slab, Swafford said.
“Since then, he’s been unresponsive,” Swafford said.
It has been five weeks since the issue was identified, he said.
“I think he thinks it’s cheaper for him to walk away from the project than it is to come out and fix it,” Swafford said.
Danny Earley, project manager for the company, said the issue with the slab pour has to do with the company’s concrete suppliers.
“The product they sent us couldn’t be worked to those specifications,” he said.
Earley said he is willing to correct the slab issue and also is willing to complete the contract.
However, he did not say when or if he planned to contact Swafford.
A second slab has to be poured for the 11,750-square-foot office space that is part of the hangar.
Swafford said looking at the other bids for correcting the existing slab and pouring the second slab is an option, as well as completely rebidding the contract.
A notice has been filed with the bond company, which will cover the cost of what needs to be done if it goes over the $185,000 budget airport officials set for the concrete structure.
Swafford said he hopes pouring what he called a cap slab on top of the existing slab will level it. He said he is not sure how much that will cost.
He said the second pour will cost around $35,000.
The other option would be to tear up what’s already been poured and start over “which would create more delay and be more expensive,” Swafford said.
Construction on the $1.7 million project began in late July.
The hangar was originally expected to be complete by February.
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