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Lewiston Port may Get Break on Dock by Elaine Williams Lewiston Tribune, April 20, 2013

Apparent low bid on expansion of container dock well below estimate

The Port of Lewiston appears poised to get a half-million-dollar break on the expansion of its container dock.

The apparent low bidder for the project is Advanced American Construction of Portland, Ore., for $2.23 million, significantly below the engineer's estimate of $2.7 million.

The project will add 150 feet to the Port of Lewiston's 125-foot container dock. The additional length will allow two barges to be docked at the port at the same time. Crews are expected to start in June and be done by the end of November.

"We're very pleased ... We're definitely within budget," Port Manager David Doeringsfeld said Friday after the bids were opened.

The port expects to award the bid within about two weeks after it reviews all the submitted proposals.

Advanced American Construction came in just below Imco of Ferndale, Wash., which submitted a proposal for $2.27 million. Other bids included Orion Marine of Tacoma for $2.29 million; Pacific Pile and Marine of Seattle for $2.38 million; HME Construction of Vancouver, Wash., for $2.58 million; and Bergerson Construction of Astoria, Ore., for $2.73 million.

Not too many local contractors have the required equipment, which is why Doeringsfeld said all the bids came from western Oregon and Washington.

"To do this kind of work, you need a crane mounted to a barge," he said.

Almost all of the bidders appear to be proposing local companies as subcontractors for the electrical work and at least some other parts of the construction, Doeringsfeld said.

The project is being paid for with a $1.3 million grant from the Transportation Generating Recovery Discretionary Grant (TIGER) program, as well as a $600,000 loan from the state of Idaho.

The container dock helps Lewiston-area growers and manufacturers access international markets. Dried peas, lentils, garbanzo beans and paperboard loaded at the port are taken to Portland, Ore., then moved to larger, ocean-going vessels that call on the Pacific Rim and other parts of the world.

The project has received national attention with a visit last summer from U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, as well as criticism from environmentalists who question the use of taxpayer dollars in the port's operations.

Related Pages:
Port of Lewiston Set to Improve Dock by Carol Ryan Dumas, Capital Press, 9/13/12
Container Shipping Report Port of Lewiston Fact Sheet 1997