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Rehab Awarded for CA’s Highest Bridge

Friday, January 7, 2011

Golden State Bridge Inc. of Martinez, CA, has been awarded a $58,374,849 contract by Placer County (CA) to rehabilitate the Foresthill Road Bridge, which towers 730 feet above the North Fork of the American River in California's Sierra Foothills.

The bridge is reputed to be the third-highest in the United States and the highest in California.

The project includes coatings application, various repairs and seismic retrofitting on the steel deck truss bridge, which runs 2,428 feet long and 75 feet wide.

The bridge, which was built in the early 1970s, has gained fame through appearances in movies and popularity with BASE jumpers.

The bridge appeared in the beginning of the 2002 action move XXX with Vin Diesel and was the setting of the trailer for the 2009 film The Ugly Truth.
 
The contract is nearly $15 million below the engineer's estimate of $73,151,000.

Subcontract Work

Golden State Bridge signed a subcontract for approximately $23 million with F.D. Thomas Inc. of Central Point, OR, SSPC-QP 1 and -QP 2 certified, to perform heavy metals abatement and coatings application. The bridge has not been repainted since it opened in 1973.

The project, which will begin this winter and be completed in 2013 or 2014, includes coating approximately one million square feet of existing steel.

The steel, including all structural elements, diaphragms, interior surfaces of box truss members, bearings, and guardrail/handrail posts, will be abrasive-blast-cleaned to a Near White finish (SSPC-SP 10) and coated with an organic zinc-epoxy-urethane system. The contract includes containment and abatement of the existing lead and chromium bearing coatings.

2.5M Pounds of New Steel

The project also includes fabricating and erecting approximately 2,580,000 pounds of structural steel, which will be shop-coated with inorganic zinc in a facility with an SSPC-QP 3 certification or AISC Sophisticated Paint Endorsement. The contract also includes applying a methacrylate penetrating sealant to deck surfaces.

Reported by Paint BidTracker, a construction reporting service devoted to identifying contracting opportunities for the coatings community.