Bridge builder in black even after big penalties
Even after being penalized millions of dollars for problem-plagued work, the lead builder of the new Bay Bridge eastern span is walking away a financial winner — thanks to its rush job to get the bridge open by Labor Day weekend in 2013.
The Bay Bridge project’s oversight committee decided last week that the lead contractor, the joint venture American Bridge/Fluor, was partly to blame for the construction fiasco that resulted in 32 high-strength steel rods snapping on the span’s seismic stabilizers. Throw in a few bucks for the continuing troubles with rods at the base of the signature tower, and American Bridge/Fluor was docked a cool
$11 million.
But don’t feel too bad — when the bridge opened to traffic on time in September 2013, thanks to a last-minute sprint, American Bridge/Fluor was rewarded with almost $49 million in bonuses.
By our math, even with the penalties, that still puts the bridge’s builder ahead by $38 million.
“The incentive was to get the bridge built by Labor Day — that was the deal written into the contract, and they met it,” said Randy Rentschler, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
“The question of construction defects became a separate issue,” he said, “and now that subject has been dealt with — like it or not.”
Arena buzz: The group opposing the Golden State Warriors’ planned Mission Bay arena is pushing the team to consider yet another site — an industrial patchwork 11 blocks south of the current proposed spot.
The Warriors already shifted plans once, transplanting their dreams from Piers 30-32 to a spot next to UCSF’s Mission Bay medical center. Now the Mission Bay Alliance — a group of deep-pocketed UCSF donors who want the proposed arena site set aside for the medical center’s expansion — says there’s a much better spot.
It’s a 20-acre mix of warehouses, lumberyards and empty lots off Cesar Chavez Street, some of which is already owned by the city. It’s next to Muni’s Third Street light-rail line and Interstate 280, and about a third of a mile from Highway 101.
“It’s tailor-made for the Warriors, right on a Muni rail line, and there is ample parking,” said Mission Bay Alliance spokesman Sam Singer.
The group has met privately with both Mayor Ed Lee and the Warriors’ lawyers to discuss the idea. We’re told the alliance members — led by mega-rich UCSF donors Bill Oberndorf and Sandy Robertson — even offered to help finance the land purchase.
The Warriors, however, are showing little interest.
“The Warriors are focused on the site in Mission Bay,” said team spokesman P.J. Johnston. “The public clearly supports this location.”
He also accused the alliance of playing politics.
“The oldest play in the book is to say, ‘We love a project — we just want it at a different location,’ ” Johnston said.
Lee’s office was equally blunt, sending us a statement Friday saying alliance members “have no interest in being reasonable or working with the city to resolve what they say their concerns are.”
The group’s strategy, the statement said, is “to bring in the high-priced lawyers and
litigate.”
A-ticket: Leading the minority in the House may not be a dream job, but there was one major perk last week: the number of tickets available to hand out for Pope Francis’ speech to Congress.
While most lawmakers had one prized ticket to give out, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, had at least eight.
Her guests included such heavyweights as:
Salesforce chief and bigtime charity and political donor Marc Benioff and his wife, Lynne. Benioff is active in San Francisco’s Catholic community and a close friend of Archbishop Salvatore
Cordileone, whose antisame-sex marriage campaigning has raised hackles among liberal parishioners.
Megabucks environmentalist and possible gubernatorial contender Tom Steyer and his wife, Kat Taylor.
Service Employees International Union president Mary
Kay Henry, whose union represents 1.5 million public employees and health care workers nationwide.
Matilda Cuomo, widow of New York Gov. Mario Cuomo.
Plus Pelosi’s brother, former Baltimore Mayor Thomas D’Alesandro III, and the congresswoman’s husband, Paul Pelosi.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein gave her ticket to Democratic donor Elizabeth Bagley, who is active in children’s issues. Oakland Democratic Rep.
Barbara Lee’s ticket went to the Rev. Jay Matthews, rector at the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, while Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, gave his to St. Mary’s College President James Donahue.
Rep. Jackie Speier ,DHillsborough, brought her son’s godmother, Katy Lawson, to the event and rounded up about 120 tickets for congressional janitors, police officers and other support staff.
Deja vu: The design hasn’t change much, but George Lucas is scaling back the Chicago version of his Museum of Narrative Art.
Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin is calling it “the Weight Watchers version of Jabba the Hutt.”
San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or e-mail matierandross@ sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross