December 24, 2009

Mississippi River bridge bids exceed estimates

ST. LOUIS

The low bid to build a new Mississippi River crossing north of downtown St. Louis came in US$39 million higher than expected, Missouri transportation officials said.

The US$229.5 million bid by a joint venture of Massman Construction Co. of Kansas City, Traylor Bros. Inc. of Indiana, and St. Louis-based Alberici Corp. was higher than the US$190 million estimate for the main river span, according to a report in the Post-Dispatch.

“It is the biggest river in the country,” said Ed Hassinger, St. Louis district engineer for MoDOT. “The conditions are tough to work in. The people who do this are really specialized operations. This isn’t like resurfacing a road where you have 15 bidders and it can be all local. These are national firms.”

Still, Hassinger said he was surprised by the bid amounts. He said the projected price tag was based on multiple estimates by MoDOT, the Federal Highway Administration, the bridge design consultant and a third-party contractor who was not bidding on the project. The main span is the largest single piece of the US $640 million Mississippi River Bridge project.

Work is expected to begin on the main span early next year. Hassinger said the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, with concurrence by the Illinois Department of Transportation, will have final say on awarding the project contract.

The other main span bid, by a joint venture of American Bridge Co. and Dragados USA, was US$274.9 million.

After years of haggling over how to pay for the bridge, Illinois and Missouri reached agreement in early 2008 to build a four-lane, cable-stayed bridge north of the Edward Jones Dome. It will be built with state and federal funds. The bridge is expected to carry 40,000 vehicles a day and relieve traffic congestion on the Poplar Street Bridge.

News of the potential 20 per cent cost increase on the main span drew immediate response from one Metro East official.

“MoDOT agreed to cover any additional costs,” St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern. “Now when the additional costs arise, they’re talking about cutting costs. My concern would be that they’re going to re-engineer the bridge to make it narrower, or cheapen the structure that we all agreed on. We certainly don’t want the size scaled back.”

Hassinger said it is too early to say what will happen next because MoDOT officials are still analyzing the bids. If the bid is considered responsive, then MoDOT will deal with the budget issue. That may include looking for cost savings elsewhere. Missouri may be able to utilize some of the savings from the recently completed Highway 40 rebuild, as well. That highway, which reopened last week, came in US$11 million under its original US$535 million budget.

-Associated Press

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