Order street lights early and store them, if needed, says reader

The in basket: When Jeff Griswold read the earlier Road Warrior about the delay in getting needed street light equipment for the new Silverdale-Chico-Newberry roundabout, (and similar experiences by various jurisdictions on that kind of project), he succinctly wrote, “when a project starts, order them and if they get delivered early…. store them somewhere.  I am sure there is a place things like that can sit until needed.”

I told the county that was my reaction too when they said the equipment was ordered on time but the manufacturer didn’t deliver it on time.

I also see by way of a front page story this week that late delivery of a signal pole is responsible for delay in the city of Bremerton’s Warren Avenue work.

The out basket: Tina Nelson, senior program manager for Kitsap County Public Works, called Jeff’s suggestion ‘”a very reasonable idea,” and one that is used, but there can be issues with warranties when items are sitting in a yard somewhere.

She also said the early completion of the rest of the Silverdale project exaggerated the apparent length of the delay.

“A consideration is made on every project,” she said, “as to how we are going to deal with long lead items.  Purchase ahead, set up contract with lead time, suspend the project for material purchase, and more. Every solution has its own pros and cons.

“On the roundabout, we had the poles, (but) the arms were delayed.  All materials were ordered in time with a shipping date provided to the contractor acceptable to the meet the project schedule. This was never seen as an issue, until the contractor was able to get the paving done ahead of schedule, and the streetlight arms were delayed at the last minute. The benefit of the early paving to the quality of the project, and leaving out the potential delay for weather, was huge, but not one that is easily communicated to and understood by the public.  They see what they see, which is how it works.”