Parking Lot Replacement on Tap for Shawnee County Courthouse

By CN Staff

TOPEKA, Kan.—Shawnee County will be replacing the northwest parking lot of their county courthouse, according to a recent article in the Topeka Capital-Journal and other reports.

County Counselor Jim Crowl informed county commissioners on February 24 that the upper layer of concrete in the parking lot just northwest of the Shawnee County Courthouse began to fail within six months of being poured,

Commissioners Bill Riphahn, Kevin Cook and Aaron Mays then voted 3-0 to enter into a settlement and mutual release agreement agreeing that the lot would be reconstructed at no additional cost to the county.

The contract with Topeka-based Mohan Construction, Inc., stipulates requirements intended to avoid a repeat of such an incident, including stipulating that the concrete not be poured when the outdoor temperature is over 95 degrees, according to Crowl.

Commissioners voted back in February 2017 to pay $438,000 to Mohan Construction to make exterior improvements, according to the Capital-Journal, which included reconstructing the parking lot just northwest of the courthouse, located at 200 S.E. 7th.

The report also stated that Mohan Construction entered into an agreement with subcontractor Cousins Concrete, which furnished services tied to the project, according to the newly approved agreement. But Mohan Construction, Cousins Concrete and the county all subsequently agreed that the work Cousins Concrete did was not up to par.

The agreement approved on Monday entirely settles and resolves the issues involved, arranging for Mohan Construction—with help from its subcontractors—to replace the parking lot and make other exterior upgrades; the new work will be warrantied.