RIDOT Budgeted $120M for a Project — Awarded $167M Contract — $34M Higher Than Lowest Bid
GoLocalProv News Team
RIDOT Budgeted $120M for a Project — Awarded $167M Contract — $34M Higher Than Lowest Bid
Skanska is a global construction company founded in Sweden. Today, the U.S. division claims work across the country and is facing a number of lawsuits. JH Lynch is a Cumberland-based construction company.
Presently, RIDOT’s 6/10 project is being investigated by both the United States Attorney and the Rhode Island Attorney General. RIDOT’s contractor Barletta Engineering/Heavy Division dumped tons of contaminated material next to homes in the Olneyville section of Providence.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTFor the Route 146 project, the winning bid was tens of millions higher than the two other finalists, according to documents secured by GoLocal.
Final Bids
Skanska/JH Lynch final bid: $167,400,146.00
Barletta/AETNA Bridge Company final bid: $144,668,000.00
Cardi Corporation final bid: $132,999,150.00
The state defended the award of the project. RIDOT does not award contracts based on the most qualified, lowest bidder -- the agency requires contractors to submit a so-called "design-build" proposal. RIDOT then scores the project internally and can select the contractor based on what they determine to be the "apparent best value.'
“The best value award was made to Skanska/Lynch as the partnership with the highest combined score in the request for proposals. The award was made according to requirements set forth by the Rhode Island Department of Administration. The construction cost of the project is $167.4 million,” said Charles St. Martin, spokesperson for RIDOT Director Peter Alviti.
"The request for proposal instructed the Design-Build (DB) Teams to submit a TECHNICAL and PRICE Proposal to RIDOA/Purchases on January 6, 2022," wrote Maureen McHugh, a project manager at RIDOT in a memo to Everett Samartino, Jr., the Administrator of the Office of Procurement & Contract Management.
Of the three applications, RIDOT only scored the Skanska/JH Lynch and Barletta/AETNA bids. The lowest bid from Cardi was not considered in the final evaluation due to what one RIDOT memo claims was a low technical score.
According to RIDOT documents, the Barletta/AETNA proposal scored better on the price, the Skanska/JH Lynch team scored significantly better on the technical score -- a score determined by a RIDOT review committee.
“The Skanska/Lynch proposal included innovative solutions to reduce permitting needs, reduce impacts to the motoring public, and reduce utility impacts at the Rte. 146/146A interchange. It also exceeded certain RIDOT requirements set forth in the RFP such as providing increased bridge clearance at critical locations. The project schedule submitted with the proposal shows substantial completion approximately two months before RIDOT’s required completion date and the schedule overall included the lowest number of critical activities which presents a lower risk of negative schedule impacts for the project,” said St. Martin.
A press release from Skanska posted stated, "The project includes the staged construction of Route 146 along with construction of a new flyover bridge and other structures. In addition, Skanska will perform bridge rehabilitation, roadway reconstruction, new bridge construction, retaining wall construction, drainage construction, utility relocation, handling and disposing of contaminated materials and milling and paving of eight miles of Route 146 to the Massachusetts border."
"Construction will begin in late 2022 and is scheduled for completion in November 2025," said Skanska's release.
One line item in the Skanska and JH Lynch bid — the cost of managing the utility lines — was more than $16 million higher than the two other bidders. The two other finalist bidders Barletta in conjunction with AETNA bridge and Cardi Corporation bid substantially lower.
Skanska bid: $17,000,000.00
Barletta bid: $5,249,900.00
Cardi bid: $260,000.00
“The Skanska/Lynch proposal mitigates several risks based on the alternative concepts the[y] put forth. For instance, Skanska/Lynch identified other potential utility relocation work that may be needed compared to the base technical concept and assumed responsibility for such work as part of their proposal,” added St. Martin.
St. Martin then quoted directly from the company's promotional material. He wrote,"Skanska is one of the leading construction and development companies in the USA, specializing in building construction, civil infrastructure and commercial property development. Skanska USA is headquartered in New York City with 30 offices around the country. In 2021 it generated $6.3 billion in revenue and employed 7,300 in the US."
A spokesperson for Skanska refused to answer questions about the higher cost or the price differential on the utility line costs. "Thanks for your interest in our work. We are proud to have been selected to build this project. All questions regarding the selection process and the project itself should be directed to RIDOT," wrote Mike Iacovella of Skanska in an email to GoLocal.
While Skanska does work across the and on some of the biggest projects including the Empire State Building and the Brooklyn Bridge, it has been involved with a number of controversies.
These include nearly $20 million in fines and penalties since 2000.
The U.S. Department of Justice issued a press release on March 31, 2011, regarding a $19.5 million penalty.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated: "The Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program can mean the difference between success and failure for qualified, minority and women-owned businesses. The alleged conduct of these defendants deprived legitimate DBEs from receiving millions of dollars in lucrative government contracts. The message of today's criminal charges and $19.6 million settlement should be loud and clear--every company has to play by the rules, and we simply will not tolerate corruption in our government programs."
The announcement went on, "Separately, Mr. Bharara announced that Skanska USA Civil Northeast, Inc. ("Skanska"), has entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Pursuant to that agreement, Skanska will pay a total of $19.6 million -–half to the USDOT and half to the MTA -– representing monies that Skanska paid EEA in connection with certain public construction contracts for which EEA served as a subcontractor. Skanska also agreed to cooperate with this Office, DOT, MTA, the Port Authority of New York-New Jersey and other designated agencies, in connection with any related criminal investigation by this office."
In another case, another division of the company was hit with a racial harassment lawsuit:
2021: Skanska USA Building, Inc., a building contractor headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., will pay $95,000 to settle a racial harassment and retaliation lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.
According to the EEOC's suit, Skanska violated federal law by allowing workers to subject a class of black employees who were working as buck hoist operators to racial harassment, and by firing them for complaining to Skanska about the misconduct. Skanska served as the general contractor on the Methodist Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, where the incidents in this lawsuit took place. The class of black employees worked for C-1, Inc. Construction Company, a minority-owned subcontractor for Skanska. Skanska awarded a subcontract to C-1 to provide buck hoist operations for the construction site and thereafter supervised all C-1 employees while at the worksite.
The website GoodJobsFirst sites 19 incidents of penalties be levied on Skanska and its subsidiaries. Presently, the company is facing a number of significant suits -- two prominent ones in Florida.