|
Business
& Labor
New York Officials May Hire Bechtel For Trade Center Job
(enr.com
11/19/01)
By Debra K. Rubin and Aileen Cho
New York City could soon be turning to San
Francisco-based Bechtel Group Inc. to manage the estimated $2.5-billion
cleanup of the World Trade Center site.
Bechtel officials confirm it is "in discussions" with
New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R) and city officials to take
over management of cleanup work at the site of the buildings destroyed
by the Sept. 11 attacks. The plan to bring in Bechtel has unnerved
site contractors and other project participants who claim the move
is politically motivated because of the firm's strong Republican
connections.
At ENR press time, neither the mayor's office nor top officials
of the city's Dept. of Design and Construction (DDC), which has
been managing site operations, would officially confirm the management
change. But sources close to the project say Bechtel could be on
the jobsite as early as just after Thanksgiving. "This is being
shoved down our throats," says one project participant.
The cleanup's four key contractors, who have been on site since
the attacks, are worried about their future status under Bechtel
and are concerned about the firm's perceived lack of a strong track
record in city project management. "We're not sure if it will
be for program management or construction management," says
one executive. "We're waiting to see what happens."
Bovis Lend Lease, one of the four prime contractors, also submitted
a management proposal, says spokesperson Mary Costello. Sources
say the firm scored higher on technical evaluations and price. "We
would think the city would be interested in hiring firms that can
move the cleanup along as safely and smoothly as those who understand
the New York market," says Lou Coletti, president of the New
York Building Employers Association.
Bechtel has been working on the site "on an informal basis"
since Sept. 12, says spokesman Alexander Winslow. The firm delivered
on Oct. 29 a project-wide safety and health plan but has since left
the site, he says. "The idea that there are mysterious powerful
levers being pulled on our behalf is ridiculous," says Winslow.
"We feel that our record speaks for itself." He says the
firm has had PM roles in major city rail jobs such as East Side
Access and a rail line to Kennedy International Airport and claims
that three of the four WTC contractors are also not officially based
in the city.
Officials of The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed
the agency hopes to reopen within two years an underground path
station partially crushed under WTC debris. Discussions include
reopening an old Hudson and Manhattan Railroad station a few blocks
east, and lengthening it 200 ft to accommodate 10 cars rather than
seven. The work would involve cut-and-cover tunneling toward the
WTC "bathtub" with connecting slurry walls, says Raymond
Sandiford, pa chief geotechnical engineer.
The new location would connect New York City subway lines, adds
Frank Lombardi, authority chief engineer. "If we were to move
in this direction, it will have a lot of engineering challenges,"
he says.
|
