The city of Los Angeles has re-bid the construction contract for the $220-$250m East Central Interceptor Sewer project. The move follows the rejection of bids from the original four successful pre-qualifying Jvs, and is expected to delay the project by some four months.
Originally the contract was to be awarded at the end of August with notice to proceed scheduled for this month (News ‘May 2000).
The four JVs to lose out are; Kenny/Kiewit/McNally with a bid of $235.9m; Shea/Traylor/Frontier Kemper at $261.8m; Tudor-Saliba/Elmore who bid $285m, and Obayashi/Shimmick whose amount was undisclosed due to a bid discrepancy. The lowest bid was $20m under the estimate of the engineer. The rejected JVs were unavailable for comment.
A spokesman for the client refused to comment on the exact reason for the withdrawal, saying the decision taken by The LA Board of Public Works was ‘in the best interests of the city’.
Ellen Stein, president of the city of Los Angeles Board of Public Works told T&TI exclusively: " The Board of Public Works is committed to a fair and equitable process in the bidding and awarding of all contracts. We are proud of our record in this area, and will continue to take the necessary action to ensure the integrity of this process. We are confident that the rebidding of this contract will prove beneficial to both the city and the contracting community."
In a bid to get the scheme back on schedule, a workshop has already been held for prospective pre-qualifiers, and five Jvs have been shortlisted to bid for the new contract. They are: Kenny/ Shea/Traylor/Frontier Kemper; Obayashi/Shimmick; Impregilo; Tudor-Saliba/Elmore pipe-jacking; Shea. Shea was deciding as T&TI went to press whether to bid as a JV or to go alone.
The client has made slight revisions to the RFQ, the client spokesman told T&TI: "The technical qualifications concerning experience with closed faced pressure tunnel boring machines remains the same, but the contractors are now requested to complete the Work History and Qualifications questionnaire which outlines their previous contractual track records with other public agencies."
The four month delay to the project caused by the re-bid has resulted in a revised bid award date of December 4th, 2000.
The project involves some 18kms of 2-4m diameter tunnel driven by four slurry or EPB TBMs and aims to upgrade the Central LA’s overstretched sewage facilities.
