Washington State

House of Representatives

Office of Program Research

BILL

ANALYSIS

Transportation Committee

HB 1288

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Brief Summary of Bill

Requires the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to assign steel fabrication inspector travel costs for state boundary bridge projects to the project contractor when elements of the project are fabricated more than 300 miles from Olympia.
Creates a formula for determining the reduction in payment to the contractor if it is impracticable and difficult to ascertain the increase in cost to the WSDOT for steel fabrication inspections.

Background:

The Interstate 5 (I-5) Bridge crosses the Columbia River and connects Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, with two identical bridge structures. One bridge structure carries traffic northbound to Vancouver, and the other bridge structure carries traffic southbound to Portland. The northbound bridge was built in 1917, and the southbound bridge was built in 1958. The Columbia River Crossing (CRC) Project, as described in the record of decision, will replace the I-5 bridges, extend light rail to Vancouver, improve closely spaced interchanges, and enhance the pedestrian and bicycle paths.

The estimated project costs range from $3.1 billion to $3.5 billion, but the total cost of the CRC Project has been capped at $3.413 billion. The estimated quantity of fabricated structural steel for the two river-crossing bridges is 35,000 tons.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) charges for fabrication inspections for all departmental projects on a cost per inspection basis. The inspection costs are broken down into three zones:

within 300 airline miles from Seattle no charges are made to the contractor and all fabrication inspection costs are paid by the WSDOT;
between 300 and 3,000 airline miles from Seattle the contractor is charged $700 per inspection day; and
over 3,000 airline miles from Seattle the contractor is charged $1,000 per inspection day, but not less than $2,500 per trip.

Summary of Bill:

The WSDOT is required to assign steel fabrication inspector travel costs for state boundary bridge projects to the project contractor when elements of the project are fabricated more than 300 miles from Olympia. A formula is provided for determining the reduction in payment to the contractor if it is impracticable and difficult to ascertain the increase in cost to the WSDOT for steel fabrication inspections. If a fabrication site is more than 300 miles from Olympia, the payment to the contractor must be reduced by the greater of either $5,000 or five cents per pound of structural steel. If a fabrication site is more than 3,000 miles from Olympia, the payment to the contractor must be reduced by the greater of either $8,000 or seven cents per pound of structural steel.