Needed supply chain information has led the city to extend price bids to build a new Congress Street Bridge by one month. The $24 million price tag is a pre-Covid number so as CT Post reporter Brian Lockhart shares the cost to build it could be higher as Mayor Joe Ganim hopes for a ground breaking with an expected Democratic primary on the horizon.
Add another month to the nearly three decades it has taken to replace the demolished Congress Street bridge linking downtown and the East Side.
Bids for the estimated $24 million infrastructure project were initially due this past Tuesday. But Mayor Joe Ganim’s administration has extended the deadline to June 20.
City Engineer Jon Urquidi provided a statement saying the decision was made because interested contractors needed more time to obtain accurate prices from material suppliers, subcontractors and vendors.
“A number of them stated that if the bid was not extended, they would be forced to add a significant contingency,” Urquidi said, meaning a financial cushion to compensate for the lack of some cost details. “Failure to give this time would result in a significantly higher bid price, which we cannot afford.”
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We should wait for the new Mayor before we except any new contracts with significant contingencies, why the rush Joe?
This smells like the St.Mary’s landscape lighting project!