DATE: Tuesday, March 25, 1997               TAG: 9703250317

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B12  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: ZION CROSSROADS                   LENGTH:   49 lines

CONSTRUCTION DISPUTE SLOWS PRISON PROJECT

A dispute over wall heights in several prison buildings could substantially raise the cost of a new state prison for women and delay the facility's planned August opening.

As construction nears completion on the $53 million Fluvanna County prison, the Department of Corrections and the prison's primary contractor, Turner Construction Co. of Richmond, and subcontractor BAT Masonry Co. Inc. of Lynchburg are in court over the issue.

The dispute involves about 100 masonry walls in six buildings. Turner and BAT Masonry maintain the walls were built to specifications; state architects say the blueprints show the walls should be higher.

``We're talking about a major operation'' to raise the walls as demanded by the state, said Roger C. Jones, BAT Masonry's attorney.

On Feb. 10, the Corrections Department sent Turner a notice of defective work. The state agency demanded that the height of the walls in question be extended from just beneath the structural steel roof trusses to the underside of the metal roof.

A few weeks later, Jones filed a petition asking the Fluvanna County Circuit Court to declare the state's demand beyond the scope of the project's plans and specifications. Last week, Circuit Judge Edward D.J. Berry granted BAT Masonry a temporary injunction that allows it to suspend work on the disputed walls until the matter can be resolved.

Doing what the state wants would mean tearing up ceilings in the affected buildings, the contractors contend. Turner and BAT Masonry also have raised safety concerns, arguing that the walls could crack if they intersect with a metal roof that is designed to contract and expand.

According to court documents, the additional material and manpower to do the work sought by the state would cost BAT Masonry an estimated $1.1 million, and Turner's cost would be another $2.5 million.

Turner was awarded the contract for the 1,200-bed prison in November 1995. The prison is expected to employ about 500 guards and support personnel.

If the construction project isn't completed by the June 17 contract deadline, Turner and BAT Masonry could be penalized up to $6,000 a day until the work is finished.

Jones said his client has tried without success to resolve the conflict.

Turner's lawyer, Shannon J. Briglia, could not be reached.

The state attorney general's office, which is representing the Corrections Department, declined to discuss the issue because it is in court. KEYWORDS: PRISON JAIL CONSTRUCTION

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