On May 15 the steel workers and fabricators were at the Department of Transportation crying the blues over the plan to use foreign steel in the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge as if this issue just came up.

But these same groups knew before November 2000 all about the decision to use foreign steel based on a savings of $30 - $40 million to the toll payers. It was revealed at the May 16 Transportation Commission that the Ironworkers union, steel fabricators, United Infrastructure (the private developer) and WSDOT withheld from the 2002 Legislature all discussions of domestic vs. foreign steel while at least three other cost increase issues were presented to the Legislature and considered in setting the project’s $800 million maximum cost.

A decision to use American steel at this late date may result in a quid-pro-quo situation where other project costs are secretly removed to keep the fixed-price below $800 million only to be reinstated as “permissive changes” after the project begins, and thus costing toll payers millions extra.

There’s no doubt that all cost increases will fall on the shoulders of the toll payers, so the objective should be to minimize the project’s cost in whatever way possible. Since Tacoma Narrows is a design-build project requiring a fixed price, only those bids (not just on the steel) that are the lowest cost meeting state design standards should be selected while placing total responsibility on United Infrastructure and Tacoma Narrows Constructors (the design-build contractor) to pay for all cost overruns after the fixed price is established.

Let’s see if WSDOT can get a price tag that’s substantially under $800 million and then hold the contractors responsible for cost overruns.

Donald S. Williams
Gig Harbor.