Earlier this month, city council had to approve additional funds for the project, which will provide outdoor storage for 132 articulated buses along with an indoor staging area and repair bays for another 15 buses at a city-owned site on Industrial Avenue.
As of last week, city staff were still verifying bid documents and finalizing the contract with the selected vendor, said Phil Eagen, manger for the transit fleet maintenance division.
"The paperwork is not quite finished yet," he said.
Prior to tendering the project, the city received a class-A cost estimate from Giffels Associates Ltd. By definition, a class-A cost estimate should be within five per cent of the tender price, according to a city staff report tabled at a transit committee meeting this fall.
But the lowest bid received by the city was $50.7 million, submitted by Aecon Group Inc. The city said this was $4.7 million over the cost estimate and attributed the difference in price to:
- General construction cost escalation of two per cent in the last quarter, representing an annual escalation of eight per cent, compared to the 2.5-per-cent annual price escalation included in the estimate;
- Unforeseen 35-per-cent escalation in the price of asphalt;
- Unforeseen 20-per-cent escalation in the price of steel;
- A compressed construction schedule not calculated in the cost estimate;
- Higher winterization costs expected this year;
- Greater complexity of the sound wall not calculated in the estimate;
- Variations in hoist manufacturers, resulting in large cost discrepancies.
Despite the higher-than-expected tenders, the city considers the receipt of seven similar bids as indicative that it received a fair price reflecting current market conditions.
The new facility will provide bus maintenance and storage space, along with operations and training premises to accommodate growth in the transit fleet.
Site work including excavation, grading and the installation of some retaining walls and catch basins is already complete, said Mr. Eagen, adding the city would like to see construction started before snow blankets the region.
"The intention is to move in September, so from a timeline standpoint, the sooner they can get going, the better."
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BUS BIDS
Tenders received by the city:
Aecon Group - $50,796,730
EllisDon - $51,188,325
Thomas Fuller - $51,562,350
Bonfield Construction - $51,629,000
Vanbots Construction - $52,360,920
R.E. Hein Construction - $52,509,675
Pomerleau Inc. - $55,946,000
Source: City of Ottawa
