PennDOT would pay Trumbull Corp. $84.2 million - the equivalent of $450,000 a day - if the company receives the contract to reconstruct the Fort Pitt Bridge and Tunnel.
Trumbull, of West Mifflin, submitted the low bid Thursday and, if approved by PennDOT, would start working April 6 on the project, considered the largest ever in southwestern Pennsylvania.
"There's nothing that rivals this in terms of the amount of money and the effort involved," said PennDOT spokesman Dick Skrinjar. "Whatever the 'ultimate' is in anybody's work - that's what the Fort Pitt project is."
The 42-year-old span is the region's busiest roadway, carrying about 150,000 motorists daily to and from the city of Pittsburgh.
Trumbull would have to complete each segment of the project on strict deadlines and face extraordinary fines if they are not met. The work includes replacing the bridge deck and numerous tunnel improvements.
The outbound lanes of the bridge and tunnel will close from April 6 to Aug. 31 next year. Work will switch in 2003 to the inbound lanes, which will close from March 31 to Aug. 30. The project spans a total 187 days.
PennDOT would fine Trumbull $100,000 per day if it does not reopen the bridge and tunnel by each date. Also, Trumbull must open the inbound ramp from the Fort Pitt Bridge to Interstate 376 by Oct. 31, 2003, or face a daily $47,000 fine.
"The effects on the community for not making these deadlines are catastrophic, so the fines have to be catastrophic," Skrinjar said.
Trumbull must also finish repairs to the Fort Pitt Boulevard-Stanwix Street on-ramp by Sept. 30, 2002.
PennDOT has 30 days to review the three bids received before officially accepting a low bidder. The bids were scheduled to be opened on Dec. 6, but it was delayed to allow the contractors additional time to prepare their bid packages.
Trumbull's low bid was about $4 million less than Dick Corp.'s bid of $88.6 million. Brayman Construction submitted the highest bid at $101.4 million.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation had estimated this segment of the project would cost between $80 million and $90 million, Skrinjar said. Trumbull's $84.2 million bid equals $450,267 for each day of the 187-day project.
Other work has been done on the tunnel during the past five years, including reconstruction of the tunnel's granite facade in 1997 and rebuilding of the Carson Street ramps in 1998.
Electrical, ventilation and safety improvements were made at the tunnel this year.
“This is the largest rehabilitation project in southwestern Pennsylvania and will not only repair a major landmark, but the region's busiest highway,” Ray Hack, PennDOT district engineer, said in a statement.
The Fort Pitt Bridge opened in 1959 at a construction cost of $6.36 million, with the Fort Pitt Tunnel opening the following year at a cost of $15 million.
| About the project |
Work on the 640-foot Fort Pitt Bridge, which opened in 1959, will include:
Work on the 3,614-foot Fort Pitt Tunnel, which opened in 1960, will include:
