PORT ANGELES — Project engineers for the Eighth Street bridges replacement project are sharpening their pencils to find enough savings to bring the project back under the $20 million mark by month’s end.
“Our plan is by the end of the month to have the project costs as fine tuned as we can,” said project manager Bernie Chaplin from Exeltech Consulting of Olympia.
He is meeting with the project’s structural and traffic engineers next week to obtain their feedback on options, Chaplin said.
When they reach a decision on potential cost savings, ther engineers will present the data to the city and finalize the project, he said.
“We need to simplify the approach but maintain a quality product,” Chaplin said.
“It’s a difficult blend, but we’ll see what we can do.”
$2.7 million over budget
Chaplin told the City Council on Tuesday that replacing the two aging bridges over Tumwater and Valley creeks would cost $22.7 million, $2.7 million more than what the state Department of Transportation will pay.
He blamed the increased cost on escalating steel prices due to high demand in Asian markets and unexpected soil conditions.
Chaplin presented several proposed cost savings that could reduce the estimated cost to $20.9 million or less.
Those proposals included eliminating decorative railings, not relocating a city water line, not installing an approach slab, not realigning the Tumwater Truck Route under the Tumwater Creek bridge, reducing the bridge width and replacing the pre-cast concrete deck with a cast-in-place concrete deck.