Final Brightwater tunneling bid comes in below estimate

King County's wastewater utility ratepayers got encouraging news this week when the apparent low bid on the third and final Brightwater tunneling contract came in below the engineers' estimate.

Three firms submitted bids on a contract to build the west portion of a 13-mile conveyance pipeline for the $1.62 billion Brightwater treatment system project.

The apparent low bid submitted by Michigan-based joint venture Jay Dee/Coluccio/Taisei was $102.1 million compared to King County's estimate of $105.5 million. The other bids came from Kenny/Shea/Traylor JV at $106.9 million and Kiewit/Bilfinger/Berger at $124.5 million.

The winning bids on the east and central tunnel contracts, awarded earlier this year, also came in below estimates.

"I couldn't be more pleased," said King County Executive Ron Sims. "Brightwater is our most complex wastewater infrastructure project in 40 years. In today's hot construction market, it's not easy to get competitive bidding, but we're showing it can be done."

The contract is for the west segment of the Brightwater conveyance system, and includes a 21,000-foot tunnel extending from Point Wells in unincorporated Snohomish County to Ballinger Way in Shoreline.

The selected contractor will excavate a 50-foot deep portal at Point Wells to launch a tunnel boring machine. This machine will dig the 13-foot-diameter tunnel and build the pipe underground without disrupting the surface.

In addition, the contractor will microtunnel a smaller 540-foot effluent tunnel about 60 inches in diameter. Also included in the contract is the construction of a sampling facility in the portal at Point Wells to monitor treated wastewater going into Puget Sound.

The county and its consultants will thoroughly review the bidder's qualifications before awarding the contract. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2007.

The county has already selected Jacobs Civil to provide construction management services for the conveyance facilities. MWH/Jacobs Associates is designing the system as a joint venture, and CDM conducted geotechnical work as part of tunnel design. Brightwater tunnel construction has been underway since March.

In December 2005, Kenny/Shea/Traylor, an Illinois-based joint venture, was awarded a $131 million contract to build the east segment of the Brightwater conveyance system, which includes a 14,000-foot tunnel from the North Creek Business Park in Bothell to the treatment plant site at Route 9 north of Woodinville.

In July, Montreal-based joint venture Vinci/Parsons RCI/Frontier-Kemper was awarded a $209.7 million contract to build a 32,000-foot tunnel from North Creek Business Park in Bothell to Ballinger Way Northeast in Shoreline.

More information about the Brightwater project, including the status of construction-related contracts and remaining contract solicitation dates, is available on the project Web site at http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wtd/brightwater/index.htm.

People enjoy clean water and a healthy environment because of King County's wastewater treatment program. The county's Wastewater Treatment Division protects public health and water quality by serving 17 cities, 17 local sewer utilities and more than 1.4 million residents in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. Formerly called Metro, the regional clean-water agency now operated by King County has been preventing water pollution for more than 40 years.