KAILUA-KONA — About a month after Hawaii County scrapped a bid solicitation for the Mamalahoa Highway widening project amid concerns about fairness, the county is once again soliciting bids for the work.
And the Department of Public Works is confident that work on the Waimea road will be able to go forward this time.
The county is accepting sealed bids at the Department of Public Works administration office in Hilo and the Kona Building Division at the West Hawaii Civic Center until 2 p.m. Dec. 28, at which time they’ll be opened and read aloud. Prospective bidders can also examine plans and specifications at the administration office in Hilo and the Kona Engineering Division.
The project will widen the highway at 18 intersections along a 2.8-mile stretch between Mud Lane and Mana Road in Waimea. Other work includes reconstructing the pavement between Mana Road and Mokuloa Drive, building retaining walls, drainage structures and drain lines, relocating water lines and installing pavement markings, signings and guardrails.
The date for the notice to proceed on the contract is March 15, from which time the contractor will have 60 days to get started with physical work, said Barett Otani, information and education specialist for the county Department of Public Works. The project is to be completed in 480 working days, added Otani, which would be Feb. 24, 2020, weather and construction conditions permitting.
During construction, alternating lane closures will be in effect and, at minimum, a single lane of travel will be provided at all times through the construction area.
In November, the county canceled a bid solicitation after a bidder protested the process, leading the county to announce it would re-bid the work.
At that time, bids had come back ranging from $19.11 million from Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. to $24.10 million.
But one bidder filed a complaint taking issue with the out-of-the-ordinary way the county used to structure the bid.
The county segmented the bid to include a basic bid plus bids on different portions of the work.
Under the current contract award criteria for the bid proposal, the lowest bid will be determined by the total bid amount resulting from adding the total base bid and greatest number of additive alternates without the total exceeding the county’s budget available for the project. That amount is listed as approximately $23 million.
Otani said that figure includes available funds for construction.
Eighty percent of the project’s cost will be federally funded, with the rest being the county’s portion.
A pre-bid conference is scheduled for 10 this morning at the Department of Public Works Conference Room 703 in Hilo. Attendance isn’t a condition for putting in a bid.
