By John Summers March 3, 2026
ERWINVILLE — The West Baton Rouge Parish Council on Thursday unanimously approved a $133,299.75 change order for the new Erwinville fire and sheriff substation after soil conditions at the construction site deteriorated — a problem the project’s own geotechnical consultant said could have been avoided if the site had been scraped closer to when construction actually began.
The change order, which was tabled at the February 12 meeting, covers lime stabilization of the site at the corner of Rougon Road and Highway 190, where topsoil was removed months before construction started. Without an immediate proof roll and follow-up work, the exposed site collected water and became unstable, requiring treatment before the contractor could proceed.
“When do you scrape a site before you build a house? The day you’re bringing the dirt in, not six months before and leaving a levee around it,” Councilman Crowe told the council. “We created a situation here that we shouldn’t have created.”
How It Happened
Brad Guerin, managing principal and architect with Fusion Architects and business partner of project architect Matthew Daigrepont, explained the standard process to the council. Before a project begins, a geotechnical company conducts soil borings to test moisture content and bearing capacity. Those results inform the design of the building’s foundation and paving.
During construction, contractors perform a proof roll — using heavy equipment to test whether the soil is stable enough to build on. If the soil moves or shows excess moisture, the geotech company is brought back to evaluate and recommend treatment.
“It’s not a common thing,” Guerin said. “It probably happens on maybe four or five percent of our projects.”
Guerin cited Brusly High School and Blackham High School as local examples where the same issue occurred during construction. In a January 29 letter to the parish, Daigrepont noted that lime stabilization was required on more than 65 percent of the Brusly High School site under comparable conditions.
Tom Vrenic with Terracon Environmental Consulting in Baton Rouge, the project’s geotechnical consultant, confirmed that the topsoil removal and site scraping “was not recommended by us at the time it was done.”
“That typically should have been just prior to construction,” Vrenic said. He confirmed that if the proof roll had been done immediately after scraping and the soil met standards, “construction would have started immediately.”
Instead, the site sat exposed. Terracon was not under contract at the time the scraping occurred, Vrenic said, and no proof roll was conducted until recently.
Vrenic noted that lime treatment had been identified as a potential option in Terracon’s original geotechnical report for the project, meaning the possibility of unstable soil had been anticipated — but the early scraping created conditions that made treatment necessary.
Cost and Competing Bids
The council reviewed three quotes for the lime stabilization work.
Rad-Ton, LLC of Port Allen came in lowest at $110,066 including the subcontractor’s overhead. After J.W. Grand’s general contractor markup of 10 percent and bond premiums of 1.44 percent, the total change order came to $133,299.75.
Manchac Contractors of Prairieville bid $129,419.85 — before the general contractor’s 10 percent markup. Epic Paving of Port Allen bid $149,200, also before markup.
Councilman Hotard acknowledged that after reviewing the bids and understanding the distance lime material had to travel and the method of application — dump trucks rather than pneumatic trailers due to standing water on the site — the costs were in line.
“I challenged you a lot last meeting,” Hotard said. “I thought it was egregious. But given the distance to the lime facility and where it’s going — all of our bids are in line.”
“I Don’t Want Another Change Order”
Despite accepting the cost, Councilman Crowe put the project team on notice.
“I don’t want to come back here a month from now, two months from now, and get another change order because we spent $130,000 and it didn’t work,” Crowe said. “I want someone to say we’re standing behind what we’re doing.”
Guerin pointed to Terracon’s professional involvement. “That’s the beauty of a professional seal,” he said. “If I’m standing in front of you in a couple of months to ask for more money, then I’m going to turn around to my professional.”
Vrenic did not offer a guarantee but confirmed the lime treatment followed Terracon’s recommendations.
Funding and Timeline
The overall fire and sheriff substation project was awarded to J.W. Grand, LLC in December at a low bid of $4,597,600 — nearly $1 million over the original design estimate of $3.6 million. Funding includes $2.975 million from state capital outlay, $500,000 from the parish capital outlay fund, $500,000 from the sheriff’s office, and the remainder from the parish general fund. The change order will be covered within that funding structure.
The change order adds 12 days to the project schedule. Guerin told the council that the subcontractor’s equipment is already on site at no cost to the parish. Once lime stabilization is complete and conditions are verified, construction can proceed.
The project carries a 12-month construction timeline from the start of work.
The motion, introduced by Councilman Crowe and seconded by Councilwoman Andre, passed 9-0.
This is a developing project. WBR Independent will continue to track costs, timelines, and any additional change orders as construction progresses.
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