Fluor JV claims Caltrans owes $50M in extra costs for Bay Bridge

Dive Brief:

The American Bridge/Fluor joint venture — contractor for the new $6.4 billion eastern span of the Bay Bridge in San Francisco — said the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) owes it nearly $50 million, some of which represents disputed items, pushing cost overruns on the project toward the $140 million mark, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Any negotiations over extra charges will include the partial anchor rod failure, for which Caltrans demanded $11 million from American Bridge/Fluor — who challenged that penalty — and a foundation flooding issue that Caltrans officials said could expose more than 400 anchor rods to corrosion.
Escalating construction and environmental costs on the project also are of concern to commuters who fear another toll hike, but Caltrans officials said there is enough money in toll-payer-financed funds available without having to do so, according to the Chronicle.

Dive Insight:

Caltrans official Patrick Treacy said he is including American Bridge/Fluor’s entire $50 million bill in the bridge’s cost projections, even though some of that could very well be eliminated during negotiations or arbitration.

Treacy informed the project’s oversight panel of the potential cost increase, and, not surprisingly, some board members were extremely curious as to how much of Fluor’s bill taxpayers would have to pay. Treacy told the board that to end up paying the full amount, "We need a bad result in arbitration."

American Bridge/Fluor representatives have not publicly commented on the matter, but the JV has defended its work on the bridge in the past.

The Bay Bridge is not the only bridge project in the last year that has reported cost overruns and delays. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York made an announcement late last year that the $1.5 billion rehabilitation of New York City’s Verrazano Bridge will take approximately 25 years, and the "Raise the Roadway" Bayonne Bridge project will not be complete until two years after its original completion date.