South Cobb Tunnel to be cheaper by $8 million

The South Cobb Tunnel is estimated to cost nearly $8 million less than anticipated with this newest of four change orders, bringing the total reduction to around $9.7 million. Courtesy of Cobb County

The South Cobb Tunnel is estimated to cost nearly $8 million less than anticipated with this newest of four change orders, bringing the total reduction to around $9.7 million. Courtesy of Cobb County

Nearly $8 million will be saved in the construction of the South Cobb Tunnel.

A fourth change order was approved unanimously by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners in the construction contract with Shea-Traylor.

The other three change orders also were decreases, totaling almost $1.7 million.

Now the total cost is nearly $295.4 million with no more funding required.

For the South Cobb Water Reclamation Facility, Shea-Traylor is constructing a lift station with a capacity of 130 million gallons per day and a deep, hard-rock tunnel with an excavated diameter of 27 feet, 4 inches and a length of about 29,000 linear feet.

This newest decrease is “a result of final quantity adjustments and reflects the efficiency of the contractor in completing the tunnel more quickly than anticipated,” said Stephen D. McCullers, director of the Cobb County Water System, in a recent memo to new County Manager Rob Hosack.