Bids for three Honolulu rail stations come in higher than estimates

Five companies submitted higher-than expected bids last week to the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) for a project to build three stations as part of the city's plan to build a 20-mile elevated light-rail line.

The bids were submitted to build the West Loch Station, Waipahu Transit Center Station and the Leeward Community College Station.

The companies and their bid amounts were Hawaiian Dredging Co., $78.9 million; Nan Inc., $85 million; Hensel Phelps, $88 million; Watts Constructors, $88.8 million; and Ralph S. Inouye Co., $117.5 million.

The bids came in above estimates, despite HART's efforts to keep costs down by repackaging work into smaller groups, according to a report in Honolulu Star Advertiser.

"While we are about where we thought we would be, these costs confirm what we've been saying the past few months, and that is we are in an aggressive construction market," said HART Executive Director and Chief Executive Dan Grabauskas in a press release. "Industry experts forecast those costs will rise even higher in the future, so waiting is not an option."

HART staff members are now reviewing the bids. The agency plans to request bids for the next set of three west side stations next month, HART officials said.