REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBMITTED TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
SUBMITTED BY: Al Zelinka, City Manager
VIA: Alvin Papa, Acting Director of Public Works
PREPARED BY: Jonathan Claudio, Senior Civil Engineer
Subject:
title
Reject bid for the Admiralty Drive Bridge Rehabilitation Project, CC-1450 and re-advertise the project
body
Statement of Issue:
On August 3, 2023, the City received one bid from Beador Construction Company, Inc. (“Beador”) for the Admiralty Drive Bridge Rehabilitation Project, CC-1450. However, due to the high bid cost that exceeds the Project’s budget, staff recommends rejecting the bid and re-advertising the Project for more competitive bids.
Financial Impact:
The Project budget includes $3,280,000 from the federal Highway Bridge Program (HBP) grant fund and $500,000 from the Infrastructure Fund in Account No. 31440005.82300. However, the total project cost including the Beador bid is approximately $4 million higher than estimated. Rejecting the bid and re-advertising the Project have no fiscal impact, apart from nominal fees to re-advertise.
Recommended Action:
recommendation
Reject the bid received from Beador for the Admiralty Drive Bridge Rehabilitation Project, CC-1450 and re-advertise the Project.
end
Alternative Action(s):
Do not approve the Recommended Action, and direct staff accordingly.
Analysis:
The rehabilitation of Admiralty Drive Bridge in Huntington Harbour would include removal and replacement of the concrete barriers, street lighting, sidewalks, and bridge deck; cleaning and painting of I-girders and other steel members; replacement of bearings; removal and replacement of any unsound concrete that could expose internal reinforcement to outdoor elements; removal and replacement of water mainline pipe; construction of a temporary traffic signal system; utility relocation; and ancillary work as required.
The public advertisement period for the project began on July 13, 2023, and the bids were opened on August 3, 2023. Only one bid was submitted to the City as indicated below:
|
Bidder |
Submitted and Verified Bid |
|
Beador Construction Company, Inc. |
$6,494,300.00 |
Based on the sole bid received, the total estimated construction cost of this project is $7,780,000, as itemized below:
|
Item |
Amount |
|
Bid submitted by Beador Construction Company, Inc. |
$6,494,300 |
|
10% Contingency |
$649,430 |
|
Supplementals (inspection, environmental monitoring, testing, labor compliance, etc.) |
$636,270 |
|
TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST |
$7,780,000 |
In terms of being a responsible bidder, Beador performed acceptable work for the City during the construction of both the Magnolia St. and Brookhurst St. Bridge Preventive Maintenance Projects in 2018.
However, their $6,494,300 bid is $3,751,623 higher than the engineer’s estimate of $2,742,677 (Attachment #2). Beador explained that the high bid price reflected the difficulty of constructing a bridge project over water. Staff also reached out to several bridge contractors to inquire why they chose not to submit a bid for this Project. A few cited the challenges of working over water, preference for projects with a higher valuation, and insufficient time and resources to bid.
Because the Admiralty Drive Bridge remains safe for public use and there exist other contractors that are qualified to construct this Project, staff proposes to reject the bid from Beador and re-advertise the Project. Staff will explore other project approaches, update project specifications for greater clarity, increase the length of the bidding period from 3 weeks to 6 weeks, and reach out to qualified bridge contractors to inform them that the project is being re-advertised in an effort to obtain additional competitive bids that are within or near the Project budget. Section 614 of the City Charter authorizes the City Council to reject bids for construction projects at their discretion.
Public Works Commission Action:
The CIAB/Public Works Commission recommended this project on July 19, 2023 by a vote of 7-0-0.
Environmental Status:
A Categorical Exclusion was approved on January 12, 2016, in compliance with NEPA. Mitigated Negative Declaration No. 15-002 was approved on December 16, 2015, in compliance with CEQA.
Strategic Plan Goal:
Infrastructure & Parks
Attachment(s):
1. Location Map
2. Bid Summary
3. PowerPoint Presentation