A consortium of local metal fabrication shops
is vying for work on a project to replace the east span of the San
Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The consortium, known as Bay Bridge
Fabricators LLC, announced Thursday that it has signed a tentative
lease for property at the Port of Vancouver in Vancouver, Wash.
Bay Bridge Fabricators is bidding to manufacture and
fabricate 32,000 tons of steel that will be used as decking on the
new span.
"It is a competitive advantage to have four major
steel fabricators [experienced in bridge work] within a 25-mile
radius in this region with waterfront access," Bay Bridge spokesman
Tom Hickman said.
Hickman said his group is confident because not only
do the four local metal fabricators collectively offer a breadth
of experience, but the metro area's capable labor force and relative
close geographic proximity to the Bay Area and marine shipping make
Bay Bridge attractive.
Bay Bridge comprises Oregon Iron Works Inc., Thompson
Metal Fab Inc., Universal Structural Inc. and Fought & Co. Inc.
Facilities operated by those companies would continue to function
separately but would serve as the initial fabrication sites for
bridge components. Partially built components would be barged to
the new port site for completion before being sent to California.
The contract would require 300 new employees and would
take approximately 5 years to complete.
Bay Bridge selected a 25-acre site at the port's Terminal
4. Plans call for investing $18 million to build a 406,000-square-foot
manufacturing facility and purchasing an estimated $12 million in
equipment.
Also part of the tentative deal is a lease for 10
acres of adjacent property that is owned by the Clark County Sheriff's
Office. That site would be used for storage.
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