KOROR (Palau Horizon) — The current dry spell is helping facilitate the construction of the 53-mile Compact Road project on Babeldaob, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the 2004 target completion date could be moved should the weather “turns bad again.”
“Current projection by the contractor is for late 2004. That date is still very much dependent on the weather and is based on having some dry months. The El Niño development will play a role in achieving that date. Should the weather return to the patterns of 2000 and 2001 the schedule could slip,” Army Corps resident engineer Alex Morrison said.
Construction has been generally slow during the past two years due to bad weather. The original completion date was 2000.
There were also problems with allowability and coral dredging. The project was supposedly to be completed in three years.
Morrison said the weather remains the “single most impactive factor.”
“Good dry weather brings good progress and rainy conditions cause delays. Some impact has (also) occurred due to manpower and equipment limitations with materials availability having some more limited impact,” he said.
