# Township Sewer Repair Bid, we lost can you guess the winning bid



## Little (Jul 22, 2006)

Just bid a township job for multiple sanitary sewer repairs. We bid a pretty tight but legit bid of $399K, as we do this townships emergency repairs all the time and been doing so for the past 20 years and obviously know what they cost plus the fact we just did one a week ago in the same area as the repairs. Most of the repairs are to take place on the 8" Asbestos main in residential streets at 8-10ft each. There were a total of 14 repairs. The excavated material is always a nasty clay black silty soils as well as wet because we are by the water. All repairs require bypass pumping to cut out the main as well as Full depth Base patch with 2" mill and top later. We came in third among 4 bidders. I will tell you the high bidder was @ at around a Million. Can you guess the winning bid??


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## griz (Nov 26, 2009)

$310,000:w00t:


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## TimelessQuality (Sep 23, 2007)

tree-fiddy?


prolly more like 250k..


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## rino1494 (Jan 31, 2006)

I just rough figured around $310,000.


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## S.R.E. (Apr 8, 2010)

178,000. :whistling


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## dayexco (Mar 4, 2006)

S.R.E. said:


> 178,000. :whistling


i bet you're DAMN close


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

I don't even care to take a guess.

Is there a chance you can get the work after the low bid screws up?


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## Little (Jul 22, 2006)

$120,000!!! Someone stab me in the head with a rusty screwdriver please.... Second came in at $319K

And Tgeb.... The Main supervisor for the Sewage Authority spoke with us saying I really really hope you can do this work for us considering our relationship with them and right off the bat we told him not a chance, you are going to get someone in here for a sickening price. I can't wait to see how the winner makes out. We'd rather have nothing than even think of taking a job that could def get messy than to lose money, and probably a nice loss on a job like this.


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## griz (Nov 26, 2009)

I know bidding is crazy now days but.....

Somebody screwed up or read a chapter in the " Try to Change Order a job to Death" that no one else has.

I certainly hope the job is bonded.


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## PipeGuy (Oct 8, 2004)

Little said:


> $120,000!!! Someone stab me in the head with a rusty screwdriver please.... Second came in at $319K


The worst part is the sewer authority will probably "work with him" to no end to get the job finished. No "real" bidder would have a chance a doing the work the way he'll probably do it.


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## S.R.E. (Apr 8, 2010)

Little said:


> $120,000!!! Someone stab me in the head with a rusty screwdriver please.... Second came in at $319K
> 
> And Tgeb.... The Main supervisor for the Sewage Authority spoke with us saying I really really hope you can do this work for us considering our relationship with them and right off the bat we told him not a chance, you are going to get someone in here for a sickening price. I can't wait to see how the winner makes out. We'd rather have nothing than even think of taking a job that could def get messy than to lose money, and probably a nice loss on a job like this.


He didn't walk away from it when he saw how low he was? :blink:
Were they an experienced contractor for that work?


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## S.R.E. (Apr 8, 2010)

dayexco said:


> i bet you're DAMN close


See I can't even win a bid on here sight unseen. :jester:


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## dayexco (Mar 4, 2006)

S.R.E. said:


> See I can't even win a bid on here sight unseen. :jester:


show you how bad i am...i'm even a freakin bridesmaid on the internet! i was 58 grand high


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## rino1494 (Jan 31, 2006)

Was the bid opening public or private ?


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## mehtwo (Nov 14, 2010)

The sad part is: 

1. How much "labor" is illegal immigrants.

2. How much experience did this bidder have?

3. Is he REALLY so desperate for work that he guessed a price by lining some prices up on a dartboard and blindly threw a dart at them?:blink::laughing:

Oh well...it ought to be fun cleaning up that mess after the smoke clears.:whistling


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

Little said:


> $120,000!!!
> And Tgeb.... The Main supervisor for the Sewage Authority spoke with us saying I really really hope you can do this work for us considering our relationship..........



My thinking was not for you to take over for the low bid at his price, I'm thinking let them screw the pooch and you'll come and fix it at your bid plus some.

But the reality will probably be closer to what PipeGuy described, they will "work" with him to the tune of who knows how many short cuts and change orders.
Probably spend more $ in the long run and justify it by saying that the other bidders would have had the same issues and cost increases.

:blink: :no: :sad:


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## AintNoFun (Mar 13, 2006)

what was the engineers estimate?


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## Sar-Con (Jun 23, 2010)

tgeb said:


> Probably spend more $ in the long run and justify it by saying that the other bidders would have had the same issues and cost increases.


The buyer is probably thinking for $120K they can pay this guy to repair it twice and still come out ahead. What a hero. 

Sad part is that it's public money that you know is going to be mismanaged and wasted.


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## MALCO.New.York (Feb 27, 2008)

Someone knows someone who knows someone...


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## JDavis21835 (Feb 27, 2009)

AintNoFun said:


> what was the engineers estimate?


Ive been seeing a lot more projects that do not have an engineers estimate. One mandatory pre bid meeting i went to in the Chicago area, it was asked of the engineer what your estimate was for the project. She stated that she had one, but was not willing to share, because she wanted to be the highest bidder on the project.


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