MTA Construction & Development opened Contract 6535, The Ronkonkoma Train Wash Facility Upgrades and New Wastewater Sewer Connection, on Dec. 5 for the Long Island Rail Road. Seven firms bid, and LoDuca Associates Inc. is the apparent low at an evaluated $9,444,291. There is no award yet.

The headline number is the construction price. This is an A+B contract. LoDuca's A price was $4,399,251, with $5,045,040 in B value for milestone duration on top. The solicitation notice put the job in a $10 million to $50 million range. LoDuca's A price is 56% below the bottom of that range, and even its evaluated total, schedule value included, landed under $10 million.

The full field by evaluated total, with A prices: LoDuca $9,444,291 ($4,399,251 A); Triumph Construction $11,718,120 ($6,285,000 A); Railroad Construction Company $13,517,731 ($7,890,571 A); Posillico Civil $14,386,100 ($9,050,000 A); Bove Industries $16,039,080 ($10,800,000 A); R.J. Industries $16,093,900 ($10,272,700 A); and Peter Scalamandre & Sons $20,025,364 ($14,204,164 A). LoDuca leads Triumph by $2,273,829, or 24.1%. The high bid is 112% above the low, and the median is $14,386,100. On A price alone, the high is more than three times LoDuca's. B values were tight, $5.0 million to $5.8 million, so construction price set the order.

According to the notice, the work runs about 500 feet of new 8-inch HDPE sewer pipe from the LIRR train wash in the Ronkonkoma yard to an 18-inch sewer main north of the right-of-way, with four new manholes and about 160 feet of horizontal auger boring under LIRR track for a 28-inch steel casing. It also replaces the pH neutralization system, adds an oil-water separator and upgrades the wash system itself. Permits and sign-offs involve Suffolk County public works and health units, the state DEC and the owner of the neighboring Tritec property. The term is 300 days, with goals of 15% MBE, 15% WBE and 6% SDVOB and 100% MTA funding. It follows C&D's August award of Contract 6526, HVAC and sanitary sewer connections at the Ronkonkoma and Hicksville stations, to Spencer Contracting for $2,984,750.

Why this matters. An A price less than half the agency's own floor, and 24% under the second bid, means either a very sharp number or a tighter read of the scope than anyone else in the field. Either way, it is a data point for anyone pricing yard utility tie-ins on the LIRR.

What to do next. Auger boring, sheeting and shoring, paving and wastewater equipment suppliers should price to LoDuca's apparent low and expect Suffolk County permit coordination to set the pace. The apparent low is not an award. The board listing is RFI-000867.

Update, Sept. 28, 2026: C&D's 2025 award list shows Contract 6535 awarded to LoDuca Associates Inc. on Dec. 31, 2025, for $4,391,212.24.