GLASGOW — The construction company charged with building the new Barren County Correction Center said Tuesday that work is more than halfway finished.

In an update to the Barren County Fiscal Court, Tommy Gumm of Alliance Corp. estimated that the work was “54 percent finished.”

“We believe everything is tracking well at this point,” Gumm said. “We have been working well with the architect, there has been good participation in meetings and we’re pleased with the subcontractors on site.”

Ground was broken for the new jail in April, and Gumm said Alliance’s contract with the county calls for a May 24 deadline for substantial completion of the facility – at which point the building will be ready for its intended use.

The specifications of the contract give 90 days for work on the jail to move from substantial completion to full completion.

“We sure don’t anticipate taking 90 days after substantial completion to finally turn it over to you,” Gumm told magistrates Tuesday.

Alliance submitted a $7,519,300 bid for the project. The finished jail, which will be at 201 Samson St., will total 33,000 square feet and contain 178 beds for inmates.

JKS Architects of Hopkinsville designed the facility.

Gumm said the concrete block work was nearly complete, the brick work is about 65 percent complete and the metal roof has been placed over about half the building.

Frames for the security doors have been set and the doors are scheduled to arrive during the first week of December, Gumm said.

Project manager Joe Salsman of Alliance said dry weather has helped the on-site subcontractors perform their work on a relatively timely basis.

Up to this point, Salsman said two change orders totaling $22,000 have been processed, a fairly low number for a project of this scale.

The change orders had to do with bringing in a better quality soil to aid the construction process.

“Ninety percent of the time it’s unforeseen conditions (that bring about change orders),” Salsman said. “Sometimes you’re not given enough information about what’s below the surface and you encounter bad soil conditions, so you bring in good soil for all structural components.”

County officials are building the jail after the current facility, which opened in the 1970s, developed a faulty air cleaning system that led to the closure of one wing and the loss of several beds.

As the jail aged, the county struggled to keep up with overcrowding and rising operating costs.

The county has sold bonds at 3.73 percent interest to help finance construction, working through Louisville investment firm Hilliard Lyons.