The project, which includes dredging the berth to a depth of 41 feet at mean-low-water and extending it from 1,000 feet to nearly 1,600 feet, is the final piece of Port Manatee’s 11-year, $200 million port expansion project.
Great Lakes’ $14.8 million bid was accepted just two months after initial bids were rejected by the port authority for exceeding the engineer’s estimate for the cost of the project. The re-bid process resulted in a $2.3 million savings for the port – 14 percent less than the original bid. The winning proposal includes the base bid and bid alternate, representing 1.1 million cubic yards of excavation and removal by hydraulic dredge to a certified uplands spoil disposal site.
“Port staff’s many years in dealing with dredging issues made us confident that a more favorable outcome was probable by re-bidding the project,” said David L. McDonald PPM®, Port Manatee’s executive director. “The savings provided by the lower bid creates a more certain timeline for the project’s completion.”
Port Manatee’s new Berth 12 is expected to accommodate containerized shipping and be operational by early-2011. The berth sits adjacent to the port’s planned 52-acre container terminal – designed to attract new containerized shipping traffic.
