Title
Staff Report for a Resolution to Reject Bids for Annual Street Sealing 2011-12, Project No. 11-144-38-332
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that the City Council approve a resolution rejecting all bids on the subject project.
BACKGROUND
City staff conducts an annual pavement condition survey using the City’s Pavement Management System to establish the condition of City streets. Based on this survey, various City streets were recommended for one of three maintenance treatments: reconstruction; overlay; or sealing. This project is to conduct sealing treatment. Sealing is the recommended treatment for streets in fairly good condition to rejuvenate and prolong the life of the pavement. Sealing treatments in this project will include slurry seal and scrub seal; the asphalt rubber cape seal was bid separately as part of the Asphalt Rubber Street Sealing 2011-12 project.
Analysis
The bid opening for the subject project was held on June 28, 2012. A total of four bids were received, and the lowest bidder was 43% above the engineer’s estimate for the base bid. This was unexpected since the base bid amount of street sealing work to be done with the subject project is about 60% more than the scope of work for the previous street sealing project, and prices tend to go down as quantities increase. The higher bid prices also contradict what was predicted by the Caltrans Crude Oil Price Index, which had dropped 11% since May 2011 when bids were opened for our last project.
City staff contacted contractors and subcontractors who submitted bids for the subject project. Based on these discussions, we conclude that the higher prices were likely due to the fact that the bid opening for the subject project was held later in the year than the one for the previous street sealing project. Contractors tend to give lower bids for projects at the beginning of the construction season, since their schedules are not yet full. Therefore, staff pro...
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