RedandWhiteRebel
Midfield
Not to weigh in here but the contract completion date can still be different to the opening date. Contract completion date will be the date the contractor has committed to but could still be late and hence why LAD’s are applied - all of which I am sure you will be aware of. The opening date will therefore be down to when the contractor advises they are able to handover to the employer, assuming all certificates and licences have been approved and available. Not to protect the council but perhaps they’ve not been given comfort by the contractor to allow them to provide an official opening date?
Equally In respect to the contractor perhaps they’ve got sufficient programme contingency to do these works at the pace and sequence they need to. Anyway it’s only been 6 weeks since the rugby World Cup, and the bridge was clearly not complete for that date and I can’t see any reason why the contractor would not want to get off site asap.
Next time I pop into Sheepfolds for a pie I will ask for an update and see if we can nail down a completion date.