High Bid gets the MN Bridge Project

[JAE]

We've seen 200 ft. + concrete bridges go cheaper than steel using post-tensioning splices with "I" girders.

Here's an abstract that mentions this:

http://cedb.asce.org/cgi/

http://WWWdisplay.cgi?9703293

 

[KENAT]

So what happened to eliminating the cheapest and the most expensive bid before detailed analysis of the remainder?

I've heard of this before, not necessarily on this type of contract though.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[Qshake]

JAE - I've designed spliced girder bridges too (200' simple span) but find that they're not the norm. It takes the right contractor and fabricator and so forth.

I've also been involved in many river crossing where a steel alternate and concrete alternate have been included in the bid documents and find that many times the steel alternate is chosen, some times no bids were even received on the concrete alternate.

Regards,
Qshake

Eng-Tips Forums:Real Solutions for Real Problems Really Quick.

 

[Robertmet]

Here's one more bridge failure to add to the list !!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298068,00.html

 

[JAE]

It was under construction
It was just a section of the bridge (not the whole thing)

But a lot of fatalities (57). Not good.

 

[SylvestreW]

Wow. Interesting to see the QBS system being challenged, since in the past it was always the cost-based systems that were trashed.
But I do agree that the evaluation criteria should be made public given such a spread in the scores, especially since three of the four are reasonably close and the outlier is so high.



-
Aercoustics.com

 

[JAE]

It is now officially challenged in court:

http://enr.construction.com/news/transportation/archives/071018.asp

OK...two to four years later, after the lawyers get rich, they start replacing the bridge, right?

 

[prost]

This practice of challenging the winning bid has hit the US defense sector hard. The selection of the 'winner' of almost every large defense contract recently awarded has been challenged by the losers. An article in Aviation Week specifically cited the big tanker contract that will be awarded sometime end of this year, beginning of next year. Each of the teams has a strategy for challenging the award automatically if they lose. There is, so far, no downside to such a strategy, as the US gov't agency has to stop everything to go back and justify every decision, which causes the 'winner' to actually lose quite a bit because the winner might have to keep manufacturing operations running, keep too many people on staff who sit around and wait, etc. In a few cases, the gov't has actually reopened the bidding process.