Effingham County commissioners will consider Tuesday a proposal for a change order on work to be done at the intersection of Old Augusta Road and Highway 21.

Commissioners approved a change order Sept. 4 for Old Augusta Road phases 2A and 2B and for signal improvements at the Highway 21/Old Augusta Road juncture.

“We’re making changes to accommodate a land owner,” county civil engineer Toss Allen said at the most recent commissioners’ meeting. “But we’re not necessarily making changes to the signal head or equipment. We’re making changes to the location of the strain poles. It does bring some change to the equipment. These are massive, concrete poles.”

The poles are custom-made for each job, according to Allen.

Allen asked commissioners to table the item at their last meeting so county staff could look further into the potential costs.

“We’re trying to get down to what the minimum amount we’re spending for new poles is,” County Administrator David Crawley said.

The landowner asked the county to make changes to proposed locations of the poles, pedestrian signals and conduits associated with the traffic signal. The landowner plans on putting in a road that will be directly across from the Old Augusta Road entrance.

The landowner hired an engineering firm to design an entrance into his property.

“They took Old Augusta Road and mirrored it across,” Allen said.

The four strain poles cost approximately $8,500 each, and the total cost is $34,092.

Since construction on these phases of Old Augusta Road began in March, several changes have occurred, requiring items not in the original contract be added. According to county staff, most items in the contract are based on unit prices and those items are to be paid based on the quantity used. Because some items may require the use of greater quantities than those spelled out in the contract, staff has value-engineered other items to balance the project cost.

Commissioners approved a previous change order Sept. 4, but because the state Department of Transportation had not approved the changes to the signal installation at Highway 21 and Old Augusta Road, staff did not have a fixed price at the time for those modifications.