Murphy Builders Inc., DePauli Engineering explain Nizhoni Boulevard project delays
Nizhoni Boulevard has been in some form of repair since March 2020, but Murphy Builders and DePauli Engineering have now wrapped up Phase 3 of the project.
Gallup’s Planning and Development Director C.B. Strain gave the two companies time during the Sept. 27 city council meeting to explain how Murphy Builders and DePauli Engineering completed this phase, as well as all the delays to the council and public.
“This is probably one of the most, if not the most, challenging project we’ve had to date,” Strain explained. “It went on, as everybody knows, a lot longer than expected.”
Phase 3 of the project was completed in approximately 468 days. Murphy Builders’ first day on site was May 31, 2023, and their last day was Sept. 8. As the most expensive portion of the project thus far, Phase 3 cost the city $6 million.
Matt Long of Murphy Builders said they spent nearly $1.2 million in payroll. He said the time spent on Phase 3 totaled almost 38,000 hours, equivalent to 15 full-time employees working on it.
“That’s all local, it’s all kept local,” Long said. “We appreciate the opportunity [to work with the City of Gallup] because we believe in being a community partner.”
The project’s main goal was to make sure the sidewalks along the road were ADA-compliant, make storm drainage improvements, and make a dedicated northbound turn off Nizhoni Boulevard onto Second Street. They also improved the underground utilities.
While they faced many challenges and delays, DePauli Engineering & Surveying’s Construction Manager Dillon Troncoso said the rock excavation proved to be the most time consuming.
“Rock is really hard to estimate, especially in Gallup,” Troncoso said. “Some hills have it, some hills don’t.”
Murphy Builders spent 47 days of the project excavating rock.
Nizhoni Boulevard is also a heavily trafficked area in Gallup. It serves as an emergency route to Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital.
With this in mind, the crews couldn’t work on the whole road at once. They worked on the northside and the effluent and sewer lines first, then the southside and the waterline second.
Another problem arose when it came time to update the underground utilities. The crew ran into New Mexico Gas and Lumen Technologies, which owns CenturyLink internet and phone lines. The Lumen lines were in the way of the storm drain, making it impossible for crews to work on it.
Troncoso said it took Lumen another 44 days to come out and move their line, adding on to the project timeline. This also delayed the crew’s work on the northside storm drain.
Strain commended Murphy Builders and DePauli Engineering for their hard work.
“I know we caught a lot of flack for [how long this project was taking],” Strain said. “I know council caught a lot of flack for it. Our contractors caught a lot of flack for it from the public, but that’s why we thought it was important for you to actually know what the challenges were and what an excellent job they actually did do.”
The council thanked the crew for their hard work.
“I commend DePauli Engineering, Murphy’s Builders, and C.B. Strain for their hard work,” Councilor Linda Garcia, Dist. 1, said. “I always expect delays, there’s always something going on that’s going to happen with projects, and the public doesn’t understand.”
Now, the city plans to go out to the bid for Phase 4 of the project soon. Phase 4 will concentrate on the intersection of Nizhoni Boulevard and Second Street.
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