South bridge comes in $30M under budget
By David Hutton, The StarPhoenixMarch 26, 2010 11:24 AM
The final piece of the Circle Drive puzzle, imagined 99 years ago when a ring road was conceived, fell into place Thursday at a price far less than estimated.
The city's administration, in a public report, is recommending Graham Construction and Flatiron Construction Corp. be awarded the contract to build the massive Circle Drive South project, by far the most expensive public project in Saskatoon's history.
The joint bid, which came in at $224 million, is $73 million under the original $297-million budget estimate from four years ago, but that doesn't include land acquisition, consulting and demolition costs incurred by the city.
In the end, the cost is between $30 million and $40 million under budget, said Doug Drever, Circle Drive South project manager.
"We're extremely pleased with the price that we got," Drever said.
The recommendation requires city council approval at a special meeting Monday.
The two other bidders, Peter Kiewit and Sons and PCL Construction, bid $261 million and $275 million, respectively, to build the south bridge and connecting freeway, and will be reimbursed $600,000 for the cost of coming up with a design plan and cost estimate.
All three proposals were "excellent," Drever said.
The south bridge will include a pedestrian walkway under the bridge similar to the north bridge, he said.
The lower than expected bid price was primarily due to the economy, increased competition and the new design-build approach the city is test-driving for the first time, Drever said.
With the design-build approach, where competing firms come up with preliminary designs and pricing before the contract is awarded, the contractor takes the risk of cost increases under its control.
It also gives certainty on when the project is going to be completed, which remains slated for October 2012.
"To be honest, I was quite surprised by the ($224-million) number," said Coun. Gord Wyant. "We had thought it would come in under budget because construction costs had come down, so we expected it not to be quite as high as we originally budgeted. But, yeah, I was still surprised."
The huge savings raise the question whether the city is able to keep the full funds committed by other levels of government for the south bridge and, in turn, to broaden the project to include other interchanges such as Preston Avenue and Circle Drive, which has become a danger spot since the expansion of the new Stonebridge neighbourhood.
The city is examining if it is able to expand the project with the available funds, Drever said.
"We'd like to and we're working on it," he said.
The intersection of Preston and Circle is in dire need of an overpass and could be included in the project if the city is able to use the remainder of the funds, said Coun. Bob Pringle.
"Whether that allows us to do something else I don't know, but certainly I would want to make a case for that overpass," Pringle said. "It's dangerous today and as Stonebridge continues to build out, it's going to get worse.
"It's badly needed."
The meeting Monday is significant because it's something that happens only a few times in a lifetime, Wyant said.
"There's certain things that happen in a city over its history that change its face," Wyant said. "The construction of a bridge is one of those things. This will have a significant effect on the future of the city.
"It's going to change the way people move around."
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SOUTH BRIDGE PROJECT INCLUDES:
- A bridge across the South Saskatchewan River north of the CN bridge;
- Seven kilometres of four-lane freeway leading up to the bridge; the bridge will be six lanes;
- Interchanges at Idylwyld Freeway, Lorne Avenue and Valley Road;
- Once the city's population hits 250,000, the bridge is expected to carry close to 30,000 vehicles per day;
- Benefits include an estimated 35 per cent reduction in traffic on the Senator Sid Buckwold Bridge during afternoon rush hour;
- Some truck traffic would be diverted off 22nd Street West
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