Trinity bridge estimate low, city was warned
Dallas: State told officials cost would top $57M; Suhm hopes for $65M
Dallas Morning News, The (TX)
August 2, 2006
Author: EMILY RAMSHAW; Staff Writer
Estimated printed pages: 3

Texas bridge engineers warned Dallas officials for years that their cost estimate for the first Trinity River bridge was too low, sources from the state Transportation Department said this week.
Construction bids for the Woodall Rodgers bridge, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, came in nearly twice the budgeted price of $57 million in June - sending city officials scrambling to cut costs and jeopardizing two other bridges planned for the Trinity River Project.

In e-mails obtained by The Dallas Morning News this week, Transportation Department officials say they repeatedly advised the city that Mr. Calatrava's estimate was too low.

"The Calatrava design team produced the low estimate, despite repeated advice by TxDOT bridge engineers and staff throughout the project's history, that the estimate was low," reads one e-mail, sent Monday by spokesman Mark Ball to his colleagues. Other transportation officials said they warned the city that the cost would be closer to $108 million.

June's low bid was $113 million, a cost increase that Dallas officials attributed to soaring prices for steel, concrete and fuel.

City Manager Mary Suhm acknowledged that the Transportation Department had been wary about the bridge's initial price tag. The city raised funds to proceed with the first two bridges - at Woodall Rodgers and Interstate 30 - above and beyond the basic bridges the Transportation Department would have built.

"Yeah, they've been telling us it would cost more," Ms. Suhm said.

But Trinity River Project director Rebecca Dugger said her records show that the Transportation Department's latest estimate was just $10 million more than Dallas' - and that was this year. Ms. Suhm said she now believes the Woodall Rodgers bridge can be built for $65 million without "major" design tweaks. The city has that money in the bank, she said - a combination of additional Transportation Department and private donor dollars.

"We're going to keep at this for a little while longer," Ms. Suhm said.

Mr. Calatrava's contract says he'll design a bridge within Dallas' budget. And Ms. Suhm wouldn't specify what design features he may eliminate to build a $65 million Woodall Rodgers bridge. Right now, Ms. Suhm said, he's not considering altering the skyscraping height.

But critics question whether Dallas officials are fighting a losing battle. Mr. Calatrava has a reputation for breaking budgets. The Milwaukee art museum he designed ended up costing nearly four times its original estimate. A footbridge for Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding, Calif., came in almost 70 percent over budget, according to local media reports.

Mr. Calatrava has already made design changes to the Woodall Rodgers and I-30 bridges to cut costs. Last year, well before the bids were unsealed, Mr. Calatrava replaced steel decks with concrete decks, and welded connections with bolts.

Ms. Suhm said cost concerns will not derail plans for the second bridge at I-30. The third bridge, at Interstate 35E, is not funded. Its fate remains in question.

"We're fighting through a lot of wet blankets. When you ask bureaucracies to do things that are out of the ordinary, everybody gets grumpy," Ms. Suhm said.

Transportation Department officials, who revealed bids for the Woodall Rodgers project in June, said they've been patient and are working with the city to bring the costs down.

Dallas officials told the Transportation Department that a decision on the bridge's redesign and funding would be made by last Thursday, Mr. Ball said. Williams Bros. Construction - the low-bid contractor - is waiting for an answer, he said.

"I told them we'd figure it out [by July 27], and we weren't able to do that," said Ms. Suhm, whose staff is working closely with Mr. Calatrava to find a redesign solution. "We've asked to have until the end of August."

Other Transportation Department sources indicated that a Friday conference call between Ms. Suhm, Assistant City Manager Jill Jordan and officials at the Federal Highway Administration was "confrontational."

One official with the Transportation Department said that Dallas was trying to secure additional funds from the highway administration but that the agency wasn't swayed.

Ms. Suhm said she has not asked the highway administration for more money. But she said she has asked for permission to use foreign steel, which is cheaper.

"We are still trying to work it out, trying to run the traps and see if we can get the cost down, and get everybody to approve it," Ms. Dugger said.

But Ms. Suhm acknowledged: "We may not get there, and the whole design might have to change."

Staff writer Tony Hartzel contributed to this report.

E-mail eramshaw@dallasnews.com.
Edition:  NORTH
Section:  METRO
Page:  6B
Copyright 2006 The Dallas Morning News
Record Number:  1180469563