PORT ANGELES — Increasing steel prices due to high demand in Asian markets and unexpected soil conditions will require costly design changes in the Eighth Street bridges replacement project, the City Council was told Tuesday.
Project Manager Bernie Chaplin from Exeltech Consulting of Olympia said the current estimated cost is $22.7 million to replace the two bridges over Valley and Tumwater creeks.
The state Department of Transportation will fund the bridge project up to $20 million.
Anything beyond that is the city’s responsibility, he said.
So the City Council unanimously approved allowing project engineers to proceed with proposed cost savings that could reduce the estimated cost to $20.9 million or less.
Steel prices increasing
Chaplin said Asian manufacturers are buying all the scrap steel for shipbuilding. So steel prices have increased from 85 cents per pound when the bridges replacement project began in April 2003 to $1.40 per pound now, he said.
The soil into which pilings for the new bridge will be driven also are softer than expected, Chaplin said.
So the pilings must be driven deeper, he said.
City Public Works Director Glenn Cutler said if the project goes out to bid at $20 million and the bids are higher, state Transportation officials told him they would support pursuing additional money.
That’s not money in the bank, he said, but Transportation is sympathetic to the city’s situation and understands the need to replace the seven-decade-old trestle bridges high over the west-side creeks.