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LA Awards $4.8M Bridge Painting Work

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

More items for Program/Project Management

Texas Bridge Inc. has been awarded a $4,809,850 contract to perform coating and related work on the Judge Seeber (Claiborne Avenue) Bridge, which links New Orleans with the Lower and Upper Ninth Wards, and St. Bernard Parish over the Industrial Canal.

Nine bidders vied for the project, with proposals ranging up to $14,330,400. The project had been budgeted at $10 million to $15 million.

Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development

The painting project is the final step in rehabilitating the 54-year-old vertical lift bridge.

Louisiana’s Department of Transportation and Development announced the project in September 2009. The contractor is based in Humble, TX.

Scope of Work

The project involves cleaning and recoating structural steel surfaces on the 54-year-old vertical lift bridge, which is 2,417 feet long and 54 feet wide.

The steel will be abrasive blast-cleaned to SSPC-SP 10 (near white) and recoated with an organic zinc-rich primer, an epoxy intermediate, and a polyurethane finish. The same system will be used to coat the lift span floor beam, stringer and top flange surfaces.

The project also includes cleaning and coating machinery surfaces. The machinery will be hand tool-cleaned to SP 3, spot-primed with an organic zinc-rich primer, and overcoated with a polyurethane finish.

The existing coatings contain lead; containment according to SSPC-Guide 6 is required, as are SSPC-QP 1 and QP 2 certifications. The project also includes ultra-high-pressure water jet cleaning to SP-12.

Existing galvanized conduit will be spot-abrasive blast-cleaned to SP 6 (commercial), and 6,350 square feet of concrete surfaces will get Class 2A special surface finish application.

‘The Last Piece of the Puzzle’

The bridge carries an average of 26,255 commuters daily. In May, DOTD completed the final phase of repairs to the structure, replacing its decking and stringers in preparation for the painting project. The operator house was also repainted.

“With the recent repairs to the bridge, painting it is the last piece of the puzzle—which will not only improve the beauty of this bridge, but also extend the life of the bridge for generations to come,” said DOTD Secretary Sherri H. LeBas.

The coating project will be federally funded under the Bridge Preventative Maintenance Program. The work is expected to begin in spring 2012.

Reported by Paint BidTracker, a construction reporting service devoted to identifying contracting opportunities for the coatings community. Visit us on Facebook!

Comment from Brian Churray, (12/2/2011, 3:48 PM)

Quick note of clarification from Paint BidTracker: This article initially listed the award amount incorrectly as $6.9M. That amount was the result of the DOTD using an A+B bidding method, where contractors proposed a time schedule that was multiplied by $10,000 per day for bid comparison purposes. Texas Bridge will complete the project within 212 days.