Paint and Coatings Industry News

Main News Page

ME Bridge Painting Far Below Estimate

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Painting of Maine’s Memorial Bridge in Augusta will cost the state about half what it had expected, under a contract awarded recently.

A $6,967,000 painting contract was awarded in December to Spartan Contracting, of Campbell, OH.

Kozak & Gayer, P.A.

The bridge was rehabbed with a new deck in 2005.

The Maine Department of Transportation had estimated the contract at $11.6 million to more than $13.9 million, due to the bridge’s size and the need to contain, remove and dispose of the existing paint, which contains both lead and chromium. The job also requires certified quality control inspectors.

The 63-year-old, 11-span steel deck-truss bridge—2,100 feet long and 48.5 feet wide—carries 26,000 vehicles, a railway and a rail trail over the Kennebec River.

18 Bidders

Spartan was the clear low bidder of 18 contractors vying for the project. Its bid was $501,000 less than the next-highest bid, submitted by Titan Industrial Services Inc., of Baltimore, MD.

Twelve bids topped $10 million; the high bid, for $15,004,726.30, came from MJ Painting Contractor Corp., of Olean, NY.

The bridge opened in 1949, was last painted in 1992, and underwent an $11 million rehab with new deck in 2005.

Scope of Work

The project involves 100% removal of the existing coating system, followed by cleaning and recoating 6.2 million pounds of below-deck structural steel surfaces. SSPC-QP 1 and QP 2 certification are required.

The existing coatings contain lead and chromium (290,867-406,920 ppm lead; 2,643-5,791 ppm chromium; and 5-8 ppm hexavalent chromium). Containment according to SSPC-Guide 6 will be required.

Maine DOT

The project includes repair of corroded steel components.

The steel will be abrasive blast-cleaned to SSPC-SP 10 (near white); tested for soluble salts with as-needed chloride remediation; and coated with an organic zinc-epoxy-aliphatic polyurethane system.

Repairs, QC Requirements

The project also includes repairing corrosion-damaged steel. That will include removing, replacing and/or strengthening corrosion-damaged components and connection plates, as well as removing and replacing rivets with new high-strength bolts.

The contractor must furnish NACE- or SSPC-certified quality control inspectors, and two lanes must remain open to traffic during the project.

Last summer, Maine DOT spokesman Mark Latti told the Kennebec Journal that the project’s scope would “add up to that $12 million area.”

Reported by Paint BidTracker, a construction reporting service devoted to identifying contracting opportunities for the coatings community. Visit us on Facebook!

Comment from Richard McLaughlin, (2/10/2012, 2:13 PM)

To quote Hans Solo "I have a bad feeling about this."

Comment from David Zuskin, (2/10/2012, 9:45 PM)

"The contractor must furnish NACE- or SSPC-certified quality control inspectors". I would suggest the state hire their own coatings inspector and pay him well.

Comment from Jim Haig, (2/13/2012, 3:57 PM)

I can't comment on the dollar values of estimate vs award price here - not my neck of the woods. But it was my experience that on a lead paint bridge in world heritage national park that arguably the best contractor in Australia came in with a bid well below the competition. Why? They had the gear and team ready to go having just completed a similar project at the other end of the country. Furtyhermore, because they knew exactly what they were doing they built in a much lower contingency figure. As the owners technical adviser and spec author I was delighted with the price and the final job. On top of that, the owner had their own trained inspector resident at the industrial facility beside the bridge so effectively the whole of teh works was overseen. Memorable project.

Comment from Tom Schwerdt, (2/17/2012, 10:32 AM)

We have seen a new contractor in Texas getting most of the large lead remediation bridge painting jobs in the past few years. They are extremely well organized and usually complete the jobs in half the estimated time - with full time, NACE CIP level III 3rd party inspection hired by the State verifying compliance.