Bridge's lower bid questioned
Dallas: Critics challenge 40% drop; city says span's design still safe
Dallas Morning News, The (TX)
October 7, 2006
Author: EMILY RAMSHAW; Staff Writer
Estimated printed pages: 3

It was cause for City Hall celebration on Wednesday: The Woodall Rodgers bridge, first bid this summer at a budget-breaking $113 million, would be built for $69 million instead.
But with this second and far more manageable bid came disbelief: How did architects and contractors slash $44 million from the Trinity River bridge's price tag without compromising its integrity?

City officials say they have brought the costs down without making any major physical changes to the elegant, 40-story bridge, one of three designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava to soar above Dallas' Trinity River parks project. And they say they haven't sacrificed safety.

"Nothing like that has been modified," said Rebecca Dugger, director of the Trinity River project. "It's still as tall as it was; it still provides the same protection, the same support."

Yet the bridges' staunchest critics argue the price differential doesn't add up - particularly since the same construction company made both the $113 million and the $69 million low bids just four months apart

"You don't just bid on the exact same project and have the price drop 40 percent. It's got to be a big redesign," said Dallas City Council member Mitchell Rasansky, who rescinded his support for the bridges in light of cost concerns last month. "Those are two very different bids, which makes me wonder if I trust the contractor."

Dallas officials called for new bids for the 1,800-foot Woodall Rodgers "signature" span in June, after all three first-round bids came in at more than twice the budgeted cost. The overbid sent architects back to the drawing board to look for money savers and jeopardized plans for two additional Calatrava bridges at Interstates 30 and 35E.

Wednesday's $69 million bid - the only one received in the second round of bidding - is $4 million more than Dallas' available funding, but city officials say they're confident they can make up the difference. Barring problems with the details of the bid, they expect a groundbreaking early next year.

Officials from Houston-based Williams Bros. Construction, which submitted the low bid for the bridge project in both rounds, declined to comment on their disparate offers on Friday, referring all calls to the state Department of Transportation.

Ms. Dugger acknowledged there was "a definite change in the mindset of the contractor."

But she said the biggest price drop comes from the decision to use foreign steel in the bridge project. Using foreign steel in the first round of bidding would have shaved $14 million off of Williams Bros.' initial $113 million estimate, which used American steel, Ms. Dugger said.

Other major savings came from design alternatives, Ms. Dugger said.

The bridge's arch will now be made out of a cylindrical steel frame instead of a seven-sided frame, which would have been costly to produce. Smaller, circular piers will be used to support the bridge, as opposed to larger, teardrop-shaped beams.

The guardrail design was also tweaked, and a steel storm-water drainage pipe will be replaced with PVC pipe - which Ms. Dugger said will be hidden underneath the bridge and "last just about forever."

"A lot of it, too, was dialogue the contractors had with Mr. Calatrava's folks," Ms. Dugger said, "who reassured them not to be afraid of this bid."

If those are the only changes, Mr. Rasansky said, "this might be the answer."

But he said he wants to see the bid because in his development and construction experience, a price drop this big generally means "something's not quite right."

"I want to see this thing, see what the difference is, see what they're cutting out," he said. "I want to see if we can live with this."

Experts in the field acknowledge it's unusual for second bids to drop this far. Generally, they rise. But Kenneth Simonson, chief economist with the Associated General Contractors of America, said it's not unheard of - and some construction materials have actually dropped in cost since the first round of bidding.

Diesel fuel, for one, "has made a very nice downturn," he said. Steel prices have flattened, he said, "and there are signs they may come down." Also, concrete prices aren't rising to the extent they were several months ago.

"I can't say that any of those would explain a 40 percent drop," said Mr. Simonson, who is not involved with the Woodall Rodgers bridge project. "I'm speculating here, but it's possible, by meeting with Calatrava's team, that the contractors got a better understanding of production methods they may have assumed were more complex."

E-mail eramshaw@dallasnews.com
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Section:  METRO
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Copyright 2006 The Dallas Morning News
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