2004-09-22 CC Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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September 11, 2004 RECEIVED SEP 1 3 2004 City Council Centerville, MN 55038 Dear Council Members, I am a resident on Center and Dupre Streets. During this past Swnmer we have had to endure the installation of new sewer; water; curb and gutter; and road surfacing. Part of the process involved removing part of our 4 year old concrete driveway. On September 7, 2004 the removed piece of cement was replaced by a cement contractor hired by the city of Centerville. The replacement cement is comprised of inferior quality materials and poor workmanship. Some of the issues include: . Gouging our existing slab and not repairing the missing piece. When cutting out our origiual concrete driveway the Centerville contractor gouged out a sizable piece of concrete. When the new concrete was poured the Centerville contractor failed to repair the original driveway. . Excessive overrun of cement. When pouring the concrete the contractor did not install the forms all the way to ground level. This allowed concrete to pour ont underneath the form. . Leaving closed seams and seams tllat are too narrow. Our original concrete slab has seams installed for drainage and to offset cracking. The Centerville contractor tried inst,llling seams but tlley are too narrow making it easy for dirt to become trapped, also at least one seam is not finished. . Using unspecified aggregate to compose the cement. I spoke Witll the contractor we hired to do our driveway originally. He used granite rock to mannfacture our concrete. This makes for a more stable, and longer lasting product. I questioned the makeup of tlle replacement cement and was told that it was "standard aggregate according to city standards." When I spoke with Ryan Goodman he thought our original driveway was rated at 3900psi, the new section was 4200 psi. TIus was incorrect, the original slab is rated at 4500 psi. TIle original slab also has a 5 year guarantee; the new one only has a 1 year guarantee (only because the project will still be open then). . Leaving littered gap between the two slabs of concrete. After installing tlle cement the Centerville contractor left pieces of old cement in the gap between the 2 slabs. Our yard is also littered witll excess cement. TIlis is sometlling that was not done by our contractor when he poured the original driveway. . New slab is not adequately engineered for water damage. One of our biggest concerns is tl>at because tillS new concrete isn't sealed appropriately to our original driveway, and that it is located at the steepest pitch of tile drive where water will get under tile new piece of concrete and wash out tile soil undemeatll. The Centerville contractor confil1lled tllat tllis is very likely to happen. In a short time tile slab will begin to rock as we drive over it. The new slab will tllen crack, break, and we will have to pay to replace it in a much earlier timeframe tlmn what is acceptable. . Not installing an expansion piece between the existing and new concrete slab. When I consulted with our contractor he, and I agreed, that there should be an expansion piece on both ends of the replacement slab. This would help alleviate any danmge to the original slab if the new slab breaks loose or tllere is any other movement of tlle slabs. I mentioned tllis to tlle Centerville contractor and Ryan Goodman. Their e,,--planation for not installing an expansion piece is tI,at tltis would allow more water to seep under tlle new concrete than the existing gap between tile two slabs. TItis would speed up tlle process of washing out tlle dirt under the new slab. Unfortunately tItis argument is proven incorrect by that fact that in the middle of our original driveway (approximately 20 feet from the new concrete) has an eX1'ansion piece tI,at was installed