City Awards Lower Thames Sewer Project Bid

The Newport City Council announced on Wednesday that Spiniello Companies has been awarded the bid for the Thames Street Sanitary Sewer Interceptor Rehabilitation project. Their bid for the project was $4.3 million.

An additional $100,000 allowance for police details will be provided by the town, bringing the entire project to approximately $4.4 million. Funding for the project, which spans Thames Street from Touro Street to Morton Avenue, will be provided by Clean Water State Revolving Loan Funds.

In comparison to other bids, Spiniello's was about 25 percent lower than the 2^nd lowest bid and almost half of the highest, according to a report submitted by CH2M Hill, the engineering firm overseeing the project. Spiniello Companies is based out of Livingston, NJ.

As an incentive for the project to be completed before the peak season, a $50,000 alternate will be awarded to Spiniello if they finish by April 1. The alternate is built into the contract which was approved Wednesday night. By approving the alternate, the May 1 deadline is no longer in effect.

"The date was moved so the work could be done to accommodate for the peak season," said Utilities Director Julia Forgue. "We added an alternate because businesses were interested in them finishing before May 1^st."

Forgue said there would be more crews working on different sites. The $50,000 alternate covers the extra expenses Spiniello would have to pay to accommodate the earlier completion date.

If Spiniello does not complete the project by the April 1 date they will have to pay liquidated damages of $5,000 a day until they are finished.

Councilor Kathryn Leonard asked Forgue if there would be a liaison between the project manager and a representative for the businesses of Thames Street to provide updates on progress as previously discussed at the last council meeting. Forgue said that was not built in the contract.

The improvements to the Thames Street and Wellington Avenue sewers are a part of a long term control plan for Combined Sewer Overflows.

Councilor Justin McLaughlin said he was optimistic that the Thames Street and Wellington Avenue sewer projects have come in under their projected budgets.

"It's a win-win situation," he said. "We're coming in under budget and bringing in work. It's a good thing."