Work On Simon Fraser Twinning Moves Forward
By 250 News
An average of 22,000 vehicles use the Simon Fraser Bridge daily
As Opinion250 told you last Thursday, an announcement on the successful bidder for the design portion of twinning the Simon Fraser Bridge was expected "soon".
In a Sunday news release, the three area MLAs have announced the $1.2-million dollar contract has been awarded to a North Vancouver company, Buckland & Taylor Ltd.. The Ministry of Transportation says the North Van engineering firm was selected from a short-list of three bids.
"Today's announcement is a significant step in the process of getting the new bridge built on-time and on-budget," says Prince George-North MLA Pat Bell. "Our government is committed to getting this project completed at a fair price for taxpayers."
The twinning was initially tendered as a design-and-build project, but the ministry announced plans to split the work into two components after three original bids received came in more than $15-million dollars over the $32.5-million dollar budget.
The strong B.C. economy was blamed for the high bids and splitting the lump-sum contract into two was seen as a way to get better value by encouraging more competition.
Prince George-Omenica MLA John Rustad says, "The Simon Fraser Bridge is an important asset to make Prince George an efficient location for an in-land container port."
The design plans are expected to be completed by the end of July. The Ministry of Transportation says a tender will then be issued for the construction of the bridge.
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Posted by: owl on February 5 2007 12:51 AM
Another way of saying it would be, "The Peden Hill and congestion along highway 16 running through the center of town is an important asset to make Prince George an efficient location for an in-land container port and cleaning the local airshed in the bowl."