The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the city of Cleveland have announced the three finalists who will prepare technical and price proposals to build the state’s largest single transportation investment ever: a new $450 million westbound I-90 Innerbelt Bridge, according to an ODOT statement.
These three teams will submit their technical and price proposals in August, and the contract will be awarded this September.
Potential teams were required to provide ODOT with a list of qualifications. As part of ODOT’s transparent and accountable process, those “Statements of Qualifications” were evaluated based on specific criteria and have been awarded points based on how well that team meets those criteria.
The following three teams of designers and contractors were selected to prepare proposals:
FIGG Engineering Group, who will work in a joint venture with Lane Construction Co. and Brayman Construction Corp.;
Parsons Transportation Group Inc., who will work with Trumbull Corp., Great Lakes Construction Co. and Ruhlin Co.; and
HNTB Ohio Inc., along with Walsh Construction.
The remaining controversy is over whether the bridge will incorporate a pedestrian and bike path separated from vehicular traffic, according to a report in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Local and national politicians, including the governor of Ohio and the Cleveland City Council, have requested that the bridge include a pedestrian and bike path. ODOT Director Jolene Molitoris has said that such a lane might not be feasible on the Innerbelt Bridge, according to the Plain Dealer. She said an environmental impact statement for the bridge did not include a pedestrian and bike lane, and revising the statement could jeopardize $85 million in federal stimulus money that was allocated for the bridge based on the statement. Adding the lane is estimated to cost $20 million.
“The teams chosen demonstrated the highest level of project understanding and approach,” said District 12 Deputy Director Bonita G. Teeuwen, P.E. “In their applications, these teams showed a high level of design, construction and management experience.”
ODOT and the city of Cleveland have laid out selection criteria for choosing the final design including: sustainability and green initiatives, I-90 bridge aesthetics, design management, proposed design, construction management, construction, quality management, schedule, community relations, on-the-job training, prequalification and cost.
Each of the above criteria has been assigned a point value and a team of ODOT and city of Cleveland officials will evaluate the proposed design based on these technical criteria. Only after the design-build proposals have been evaluated will price proposals be opened. The project will be awarded to the team that provides the best value based on a combination of the technical and price proposals.
ODOT also wants Cleveland residents to have a say in the look of the new structure. The winning design-build team will be required to present the community with an opportunity to select the final aesthetic details through a series of public meetings.
As part of ODOT’s value-based design-build process, ODOT has made clear its intentions of choosing design-build teams to provide: maximum positive impact, superior design and construction expertise, outstanding aesthetics, creative ideas for sustainability and excellent community relations.
Construction is expected to begin in 2011, and the entire project is expected to be complete by June 2014. For more information, go to www.innerbelt.org.
