CC Myers of Sacramento did it again!
Ramp in maze to reopen Friday
Governor says contractor will beat deadline by more than a month
By Erik N. Nelson, STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated: 05/22/2007 10:51:54 AM PDT
The MacArthur Maze freeway connector that collapsed April 29 will reopen for the Friday morning commute, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Monday, beating the state's deadline by a month and two days.
That would mean that motorists were inconvenienced with detours through East Bay streets for only 26 days, in spite of the April 29 gasoline tanker truck crash and inferno that caused bolts to melt and steel girders to give way under the original concrete deck.
The contractor, Rancho Cordova-based C.C. Myers Inc., would be completing the job in only 16 days and collecting the maximum $5 million early completion bonus. The contract, which C.C. Myers won with an astoundingly low $867,000 bid, set a deadline of June 27 and awarded $200,000 a day for each day the project was finished early.
"Thanks to hard, around-the-clock work ofCaltrans and C.C. Myers, our local partners and businesses, Bay Area motorists can once again travel through this busy interchange," the governor said in a prepared statement. "Just in time for the holiday weekend, this roadway will be open 26 days from when the accident occurred."
The governor issued an emergency declaration that allowed an ordinarily months-long bidding and contract award process to be compressed into a few days. The contract was awarded only a few hours after bids were opened May 8, and work started that evening.
The announcement was a major victory for the contractor and Caltrans, the state's transportation.
