ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: February 13, 1996
Dept. File No. H193-30
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: The General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT: Award of Contract No. 9520, for the Microtunnelling
Construction of Clark Drive Sanitary Trunk Sewer
RECOMMENDATIONS
A. THAT Contract No. 9520 for the Microtunnelling Construction of
Clark Drive Sanitary Trunk Sewer, be awarded to the low bidder
meeting the contract requirements, P. Baratta Construction
Ltd., for a total tender price of $1,576,110.00.
B. THAT the bid bonds of the unsuccessful tenderers be returned,
upon execution of the Contract by P. Baratta Construction Ltd.
C. THAT the City Engineer, in consultation with the Director of
Legal Services, be authorized to enter into a construction
services contract with P. Baratta Construction Ltd., for
Contract No. 9520, for the Microtunnelling Construction of
Clark Drive Sanitary Trunk Sewer.
D. THAT a temporary Engineering Assistant IV position, for site
inspection and contract administration, be approved for a six
month period. Costs resulting from this staffing will be
recovered from Sewers capital overhead loadings.
CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The City Manager RECOMMENDS approval of A, B, C and D.
COUNCIL POLICY
Construction contracts over $200,000 are to be awarded by Council.
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PURPOSE
As part of the implementation process of the Grandview/Woodlands Sewer
Reconstruction Program, this report requests Council's approval for the
award of a $1,576,110.00 construction services contract, (Contract No.
9520), to P.Baratta Construction Ltd. for the Microtunnelling
Construction of Clark Drive Sanitary Trunk Sewer. This report further
requests that Council approve a
temporary EA IV position, for site inspection and contract
administration for a six month period for the above work.
BACKGROUND
The Canada-British Columbia Infrastructure Works Program awarded $12
million to the City on September 15, 1994, for sewer reconstruction in
Grandview/Woodlands. This award allows the City to further address our
highest priority sewer problem, combined sewer overflows at Clark Drive.
It was planned that this work would be carried out through a combination
of additional City forces and Contractors.
To date, approximately $9 million of work has been constructed, with
$1.9 million being successfully completed by a construction contract to
Progressive Contracting Ltd. and the remainder being completed by
additional City forces.
DISCUSSION
Included in the Grandview/Woodlands Sewer Reconstruction Phase I work is
the installation of about 900 meters of large 24 to 30 inch diameter,
sanitary sewer trunk line on Clark Drive, which extends north from
Venables Street, under the C.P.Rail Yard and connects to the existing
GVRD s interceptor sewer line on the north side of Stewart Street.
Noting that tunnelling was required for the railway crossing and that
approximately two blocks would have to go through solid rock, staff
retained an engineering consultant, Golder Associates Ltd. to estimate
the cost of completing this entire section by microtunneling. Golder s
estimate for the proposed microtunneling was $1.5 million, whereas our
estimate to complete this section using normal open cut methods was $2
million. On this basis it was decided to call tenders for construction
of this section using microtunneling technology.
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Bids have now been received with four bidders submitting complete tender
packages that met the contract requirements, including bonding. A
summary of these bids, including several proposed alternates for various
types of pipe, is as follows:
CONTRACTOR PIPE TYPE BID PRICE
P. Baratta Construction Ltd. Concrete Polymer $1,576,110.00
Plastic Mortar $1,645,660.00
Merletti Construction Ltd. Concrete Polymer $2,423,596.60
Plastic Mortar $2,423,596.60
Fedrick Nova Contracting Ltd. Concrete Polymer $2,895,420.00
Plastic Mortar $2,978,880.00
Ras-Dam Microtunneling Ltd. Coated Concrete $2,864,690.67
Pipe Form $2,971,337.57
Concrete Polymer $3,057,624.51
Plastic Mortar $3,211,573.97
The low tender, meeting all the bid requirements, was submitted by P.
Baratta Construction Ltd., (Baratta). Using this low bid and allowing
for the GST rebate and the City s overhead loading, the total project
cost would be $1,623,393.30.
The day after the bids were opened Baratta wrote to the City, indicating
that due to an error in converting from US to Canadian funds, their bid
was $160,000 short. They requested that the City adjust their bid
price. They were informed that this was not possible. Subsequently,
Baratta wrote again asking that the City reject their bid due to the
error, and because of their lack of experience with the microtunneling
technology. Both of these letters are attached to this report (Appendix
A).
Despite the concerns that the contractor has raised since submitting
their bid, staff are satisfied that Baratta, together with their major
subcontractor, Iseki Inc., are capable of carrying out this project, and
their bid is legally binding and irrevocable. Furthermore their bid
price is significantly less than our estimate of the cost for the City
to carry out the work ourselves, which is the next cheapest option.
Therefore, staff recommend that this contract be awarded to Baratta.
This contract will require full time site inspection and contract
administration. This report also requests approval of a temporary full
time Engineering Assistant IV for this purpose. The cost of this
position will be recovered from the overhead loading on the construction
cost of the work
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FUNDING
The total tender price of $1,576,110.00 by P. Baratta Construction Ltd.
is the recommended low bid. The G.S.T. rebate of $58,920.00 (4%) is
included in this tender price, but will be refunded by the Federal
Government. The contract costs breakdown as follows:
Construction Contract $1,576,110.00
Less: G.S.T. Rebate (4%) $58,920.00
Net Total Contract Value $1,517,190.00
Plus: Overhead Loading (7%) $106,203.30
City's Total Project Cost $1,623,393.30
Funding for this project is available from the Sewers Capital Accounts
established for the Grandview/Woodlands Sewer Reconstruction Program.
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