Officials Support Builder for LAX Project

Los Angeles city officials are recommending that the Airport Commission on Monday award a $253-million construction contract to Tutor-Saliba Corp., despite a city investigation that found the firm has received mixed reviews on several recent projects.

The Sylmar-based company submitted the lowest bid to rebuild the southern runway complex at Los Angeles International Airport, a project that city and federal officials say is critical to reducing the number of close calls between aircraft.

After Tutor-Saliba bid last summer, the airport staff initiated a routine review of its record, contacting 15 agencies that had hired the firm.

Several, including UCLA and the Los Angeles Unified School District, reported problems on current projects, including delays caused by understaffing and concerns about the quality of work. Others, such as the Port of Los Angeles and the city Department of Public Works, cited a positive experience.

Tutor-Saliba’s work in Los Angeles has transformed the city with projects that include the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX, the Red Line subway and renovations of the Central Library and the Coliseum.

But Tutor-Saliba has drawn attention for some high-profile lapses, including the construction of concrete subway tunnel walls in downtown Los Angeles that were too thin. The company, which was ordered to make repairs, is still waging a court fight over bills it contends are unpaid but that transit officials call fraudulent.

The city’s airport agency already has a turbulent relationship with the firm.

“Tutor has had issues with a very recent project of ours, so it’s a troubled situation,” said Lydia Kennard, the executive director.

In summer 2004, airport officials took the rare legal step of threatening to remove the company from a $34-million Van Nuys park-and-ride expansion project, saying Tutor-Saliba had failed to fix construction defects. The project, which includes a five-story garage, opened late last year -- several months behind schedule.

Airport staff said they obtained contradictory information about Tutor-Saliba’s performance on a UCLA hospital and a new high school in Arleta that left them unable to determine who was at fault for problems.

Ronald Tutor, the company’s president, said delays at the hospital and the school were largely the result of major changes in the plans made by project managers. He blamed the work-quality issues on subcontractors.

The airport staff drafted a two-page summary of Tutor-Saliba’s record after a four-month review that produced an 8-inch stack of documents, including performance reviews and inspection reports.

Airport officials say they have concerns about awarding the contract to Tutor-Saliba, but believe the commission has little choice. The city is required under federal law to accept the low bid because it is using federal money, in part, to pay for the runway. And it risks losing those grants if it delays the project, airport staff cautioned in a report to commissioners.

If the city puts the project back out to bid, the airport staff said unpredictable concrete and fuel costs could cause its price tag to soar.

Airport officials also say if the agency rebids the project, it is likely to get proposals from the same firms. The only other bidder was Omaha-based Kiewit Corp., whose offer was $41 million higher than Tutor-Saliba’s.

Some of the seven airport commissioners, who are scheduled to vote Monday on the contract, expressed concerns about hiring Tutor-Saliba.

“We’ve had firsthand experience that was less than satisfactory, and we are aware of these other issues,” said Alan Rothenberg, the commission’s president.

Valeria Velasco, the commission’s vice president, said: “I have huge concerns about awarding another contract to someone who hasn’t done a good job for us in the past.”

The project, which will cost $328 million including all contracts, will require workers to move a 11,096-foot-long runway 55 feet closer to El Segundo, build a taxiway between the two parallel runways and shore up the Sepulveda Boulevard tunnel under the runways so the massive 555-seat Airbus A380 can land on them.

Workers must remove the old runway and install 600,000 square yards of 19-inch thick concrete -- enough to build a two-lane road more than 40 miles long.

The project, which is scheduled to begin early next year, is supposed to be completed in 26 months and airport officials say that it will not cause flight delays.

When the Airport Commission voted to hire Tutor-Saliba to expand the Van Nuys FlyAway park-and-ride in 2002, the agency staff promised to closely monitor the firm to prevent problems. But building inspectors found that concrete columns in the garage were not properly aligned and that the concrete used in several columns, some flooring and a ramp was substandard.

Tutor-Saliba, which dismissed the problems as “minor,” subsequently demolished and rebuilt several concrete columns, reinforced some concrete beams and replaced substandard concrete. The airport agency and Tutor-Saliba are still arguing over who is responsible for the project’s delays.

Other Tutor-Saliba projects have also fallen behind schedule.

The company started building a $64.4-million high school for 1,700 students at the old Gemco store site in Arleta in early 2003. It was supposed to be finished this year; officials now expect it to be completed next year.

“We think they have undermanned the project,” said Jim Cowell, director of construction for the school district. “We have a target number of people we would expect to see on the job in order to make substantial progress, and they’ve been falling short on that.”

Cowell conceded that much of the delay was caused by record rainfall last winter that forced officials to stop work on the building’s interiors.

And Tutor said the school district caused the delays by continuing to make changes to the project, slowing it down.

“If anything, we’re overmanned,” he said.

At the $800-million hospital on UCLA’s Westwood campus being built by Tutor-Saliba and a related firm, Perini Corp., state inspectors said the number of notices issued for failing to comply with plans is increasing.

Construction started in late 1999 and is more than a year behind schedule.

Tutor said there is a high number of such notices because UCLA has repeatedly changed its plans.

“They have written us over $100 million of extra work, that’s a matter of fact in writing, and it’s one of the reasons that this job has had such problems,” he said.

During their investigation, the airport staff collected scores of reports that document problems including issues with beams, drywall, electrical work and a concrete foundation.

Tutor said most of the problems were with work completed by 27 subcontractors. “That’s not to infer that there’s nothing wrong with them making mistakes,” he said.

Airport staff also collected information that put Tutor-Saliba’s work in a positive light.

The firm “delivered each and every project at the Port of L.A. on time, under budget and I would not hesitate to hire them again.... NO QUESTION ABOUT IT,” responded Bruce Seaton, interim executive director for the Port of Los Angeles.

Engineers at the Department of Public Works also told airport staff that they would work with the company again.

Officials at the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority, who did not respond to queries from the airport staff but talked with The Times, had similar comments about the firm’s work on a 10-mile section of the railroad that links the port to rail yards.

“We were extremely pleased with the quality of work and particularly the schedule of completion -- they finished it on time,” said John Doherty, chief executive of the authority.

Tutor-Saliba’s $782-million contract required building an open concrete trench with 30 bridges spanning it between the 91 Freeway and downtown Los Angeles.

Airport officials and Tutor agreed that the LAX runway is similar to the Alameda Corridor -- an uncomplicated project from a construction standpoint for which the firm would do most of the work rather than hire subcontractors.

Tutor said that would give his company more control over the schedule and job performance.

“When they dedicated the Alameda Corridor, even our enemies in the political arena admitted it was one of the most successful projects ever,” Tutor said. “It was one of the biggest projects ever in Los Angeles.”