The governing board for the Port of Long Beach on Monday approved a $153 million contract with the Manson/Connolly Joint Venture of Seattle for the first phase of a nearly $1 billion terminal redevelopment project.
The Manson/Connolly contract, the first major construction contract awarded by the port in more than five years, will cover dredging, landfill, wharf construction and backlands development related to the port's Middle Harbor Terminal Redevelopment Program.
Consisting of more than 30 individual projects, the Middle Harbor program will transform two smaller odd-shaped and aging terminals into a single geographically efficient 342-acre mega terminal. The Manson/Connolly project represents Phase 1, Stage 1 of the total program, which is expected to take nine years to complete.
The new contract provides $123.3 million for construction costs, with the remainder of the $153 million covering design, surveying, program management, consultants, permitting and various contingencies.
The project was given the go ahead by the City Council in May 2009, and port staff have spent the past year and a half designing and developing the contract for Phase 1, Stage 1. The port handed out 223 sets of bid documents during the bid period with three firms eventually submitted completed packages. Opened on Jan. 25, 2011, the bids ranged from Manson/Connolly's low bid of $123 million to a high from another bidder of $142.5 million. The port's estimate for the costs of the work was $135 million.