Though having been planned back in 2000, the gigantic effort to replace the Gerald Desmond Bridge will officially be headed in a $645 million joint venture between Shimmick Construction Company Inc., FCC Construction S.A. and Impregilo S.p.A., the Port of Long Beach and Caltrans announced today. A recommendation will be submitted two weeks from now to the Port’s Board of Harbor Commissioners to award the contract. Once site preparation, demolition and other considerations are put into focus, the estimated total cost will be somewhere around $1 billion.
The project, which will support support some 4,000 jobs over a five-year span, is severely needed as the bridge linking Terminal Island to Long Beach is supported by a dilapidated concrete superstructure — despite carrying an estimated 15% of the nation’s total freight cargo passing through both the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles on top of 60,000 passenger cars per day.
The new bridge will be built adjacent the old one, with a total of six lanes, three in each direction. Construction will be done in phases beginning in early 2013 and, when the new span is completed, the old one will be demolished. It will bring in an estimated $2.8 billion in revenue once completed.
“This is a vital project for improving traffic flow for the nation’s busiest port complex and downtown Long Beach commuters,” said Doug Thiessen, the Port’s Managing Director of Engineering, in a release. “It was critical that this contract deliver the best bridge at the most competitive price. We’re pleased that the world-class design-build team headed by Shimmick, FCC and Impregilo has met or exceeded all our technical requirements while also submitting a proposal with the lowest cost.”