Trinity bridge gets off ground
At $69 million, city says, new bid an acceptable
$4 million over budget
Dallas Morning News, The (TX)
October 5, 2006
Author: EMILY RAMSHAW; Staff Writer
Estimated printed pages: 3

Dallas' first Trinity River bridge is finally a go.
Four months after initial bids for the Woodall Rodgers bridge came in at more than twice the estimated cost, city officials are celebrating the second bid - just $4 million over Dallas' budget.

Wednesday's $69 million bid, opened by transportation officials in Austin, seals the deal for the first of three skyscraping bridges over the Trinity, all of which have hung in a precarious balance since June.

City officials and Trinity River boosters said it brings renewed hope that Dallas will get all three signature bridges designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava as part of the downtown parks project, despite mounting construction costs.

"I'm a one-step-at-a-time person, but it certainly makes the outlook a lot more optimistic," City Manager Mary Suhm said. "We're a lot closer than we were yesterday."

The 40-story bridge will include some minor, cost-saving design alterations, including using foreign steel and building the bridge's arch - its central helix - out of a cylindrical steel frame instead of a seven-sided frame.

Other changes include using multiple smaller beams to support the bridge instead of a few larger ones and replacing a steel drainage pipe with PVC pipe.

Construction could begin in January.

Calatrava connection

Wednesday's bid by Williams Bros. Construction of Houston was the only one that transportation officials received in the second round of bidding for the Woodall Rodgers bridge. Williams Bros., the contractor for the Katy Freeway expansion in Houston, also made the lowest bid in the first round of bidding for the 1,800-foot Trinity signature span: $113 million.

City officials attribute the reduced bid to meetings Mr. Calatrava's design staff had with contractors this summer after the first bids were unsealed. At those meetings, designers discussed specifics of the bridge project and offered design and material alternatives.

Under his contract with Dallas, Mr. Calatrava must design the Woodall Rodgers bridge, and subsequent Interstate 30 and Interstate 35 bridges, within the city's budget.

"Calatrava has never done this type of project in the U.S., has never worked with contractors here," Ms. Suhm said. "He's got this great reputation, and people were scared. But establishing this relationship means a whole lot as we move forward."

Losing support

Public support for the Calatrava bridges seemed to wane this summer, in light of June's budget-breaking bids.

One City Council member, District 13 representative Mitchell Rasansky, rescinded his support for the bridges, saying voters should get another chance to veto the project.

And reports surfaced that Mr. Calatrava, a respected international artist, had a history of breaking the bank on his projects in the U.S. A Milwaukee art museum and a Redding, Calif., footbridge came in over budget.

Mr. Calatrava's firm has not returned calls from The Dallas Morning News.

But Trinity Trust Foundation President Gail Thomas said Wednesday that she spoke by phone with Mr. Calatrava shortly after the bid was unsealed and that he was "very pleased."

"He and his team have worked very hard all summer," she said. "He said this was the bid he had expected."

'Very doable'

Ms. Suhm said Wednesday that she needs to study the bid to make sure it has everything Dallas needs.

But Mayor Laura Miller said she's confident the city, which has $65 million in the bank for the bridge, will find a way to make up the $4 million difference.

"It's very doable," Ms. Miller said. "We now know the bridge will be built as designed, and we'll work closely with the state Department of Transportation to come up with the funding gap."

Ms. Suhm also said there could be other "value engineering" techniques that could bring Williams Bros.' costs down further.

Ms. Thomas said that she thinks opponents of the bridge are feeling the same frustration city officials felt all summer, but that she expects the lower bid will bring them back on board.

"Everyone I've talked to is just thrilled," she said. "They are so excited about having these bridges in the center of our city."

E-mail eramshaw@dallasnews.com
  Caption:
PHOTO(S): (None Given) The 40-story bridge will include some cost-saving alterations, including using foreign steel and building the arch out of a cylindrical steel frame instead of a seven-sided frame.
Edition:  FIRST
Section:  NEWS
Page:  1A
Copyright 2006 The Dallas Morning News
Record Number:  1180526962