A joint venture of American Bridge, NS Bridge and Fluor had submitted two prices that were substantially higher than the original US$740 million Caltrans estimate: US$1.8 billion using domestic steel and US$1.4 billion for an alternative with foreign steel.
If the contract is not awarded at the September deadline, it could be rebid and/or redesigned.
Caltrans this week published a report on its entire programme of seismic retrofits to its toll bridges, including the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge. Publication of the report was in line with a statutory requirement to give notification of cost increases. The report describes an overall funding shortfall of approximately US$2.3 billion, plus a proposed US$900 million contingency. Costs are broken down for all the bridges in the programme. Reasons given for the increases include surging steel prices and the complexity of the schemes.
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger this week announced a fiscal and programme audit of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge project, prompted by the cost increases.
