This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.

And the winner is: “Seattle Tunneling Partners”  (whoever that is) with a bid within 0.02% of the maximum and a grade of C- (losing bidder was also within 0.02% of the maximum and had a grade of F). 

The Slog has the only coverage I’ve seen so far, but there will be more… oh yes, there will be more.

Update: WSDOT has published their contract award process (PDF here).  Bidders can win by either submitting the low bid or receiving a high enough score (each point reduces their effective bid by $1, up to $100M).  This actually gives us an insight into WSDOT’s priorities:

  • 10% management
  • 20% schedule
  • 20% increasing roadway clearance inside the tunnel
  • 40% boring machine design and ground settling plan
  • 10% everything but tunneling (design of both ends, interior of the tunnel, cut and cover section, and operation building)

This means it’s far more important to WSDOT if you, say, increase the size of the tunnel bore than if you decrease the size and impact of the massive tunnel entrances. 

 Bidders were paid $4M each just for submitting responsive bids.  Not bad for a few months of work.