Builder of Troubled Subway to Get Alameda Corridor Contract

The agency in charge of building a $2.4-billion rail expressway to serve the county’s ports will approve a contract today turning over the project’s most critical phase to one of the same construction companies associated with the troubled Los Angeles subway system.

But officials of the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority say they have implemented checks and balances to prevent the sort of crushing cost overruns and delays that have dogged the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

“I don’t think we can approach this in a cavalier fashion,” said James C. Hankla, ACTA’s chief executive officer. “We will have to maintain tight controls and contacts with the builder and be on guard. We also must recognize that the builder has a different incentive here, and he also has had some fairly recent successes.”

The contractor is Tutor-Saliba Corp., which heads a consortium of construction companies that has been recommended to build the largest and costliest part of the Alameda Corridor--10 miles of concrete-lined trench that will house two railroad tracks.

The trench, which the Tutor team has agreed to build for $712 million, is part of a 20-mile system of rail improvements along Alameda Street that is designed to reduce traffic congestion and vastly improve the movement of cargo from the fast-growing ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Tutor-Saliba, a Sylmar-based construction giant, has successfully handled a number of major public works projects around the state, such as the Bay Area Rapid Transit system and the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

Its record has been marred, however, by serious construction problems encountered while working on the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. Among other things, the company has been cited repeatedly for inflated expenses, worker safety violations and building tunnel walls out of alignment or thinner than specified.

Alameda Corridor officials asserted Tuesday that the project is far different from Metro Rail. Among other things, they said, it is simpler and does not involve difficult tunneling under heavily urbanized areas.

Contractually, corridor officials say, there is an array of incentives to keep the trench on schedule and within budget. In addition, the agency will hire a chief engineer--a so-called owner representative--to oversee the work.

To assure timely completion, the authority will assess the Tutor venture $125,000 to $200,000 for each day of delay. The corridor authority considers the project complete when railroads can operate on the route. The deadline is February 2002.

The contractor for the trench also is responsible for the design of the project and must bear the risk of any problems caused by it. Hankla said that will give the builder “minimal opportunity” to seek change orders that can drive up price.

Besides the pending contract with Tutor-Saliba, the authority has hired a number of other companies that have worked for the MTA, fueling speculation that the corridor could become another public works debacle.

They include such engineering firms as Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendelhall; Jenkins, Gales & Martinez Inc.; and Parsons, Brinkerhoff, Quade & Douglas.

Hankla said the same companies were hired because there are a limited number of firms that have the ability to handle large construction projects.