Four contractors bid July 15 on Contract MN300001, Rebuild Marble Hill Retaining Wall, Phase 1, a Metro-North job let by MTA Construction & Development. C A C Industries Inc. was low on the evaluated number at $45,482,420. J-Track LLC was second at $47,921,339, and the gap was $2,438,919, or 5.36%. The bids are under review, and an apparent low is not an award. It is on our board as RFI-001895.
MTA C&D let this one A+B: the A number is the gross-sum price, the B number puts a dollar value on the milestone durations the bidder commits to, and the lowest A-plus-B total wins the evaluation. The contract price is the A number. C A C's total is a $34,821,000 price plus a $10,661,420 B value.
The whole field, evaluated total first and price in parentheses: C A C Industries Inc., $45,482,420 ($34,821,000); J-Track LLC, $47,921,339 ($37,329,450); Walsh Construction Company II, LLC, $60,666,170 ($46,551,377); ECCO III Enterprises, Inc., $79,481,173 ($66,757,000).
From low to high the evaluated field ran $33,998,753 apart, a 74.75% spread, with a median of $54,293,754.50. On price alone the top two sat $2,508,450 apart (7.20%) and the spread was 91.71%. The schedule side was nearly a wash at the top. J-Track posted the lowest B at $10,591,889, only $69,531 under C A C, so price decided the order. No engineer's estimate was published with the tab.
The MTA's capital records describe the project as inspection, design and priority repairs for the Marble Hill retaining wall along the Hudson Line, to protect track stability and the right-of-way. Design was carried in the 2020-2024 program ($2.15 million allocated), and the MTA's project narrative says it finished in August 2025. Construction moved to the 2025-2029 program as Marble Hill Retaining Wall Construction Phase I, filed under Metro-North track and structures with $63.0 million allocated. That allocation covers the whole project, not just this contract, so read it as a budget line, not an estimate. The wall sits at Marble Hill, the Manhattan neighborhood on the Bronx side of the Harlem River, where the Hudson Line runs below the street grid.
Why this matters. This is a $45 million heavy civil job on a single wall next to live track. Four firms showed up, and the top two landed within about 5% of each other on the evaluated total. That usually means the drawings were clear enough to price. The name also tells you there is more to come: the capital record calls this Phase I.
What to do next. Foundation, excavation-support, concrete, rebar, masonry, survey and railroad-protection subs, and the suppliers behind them, should price to C A C Industries and work from the $34.8 million price. Railroad work next to live track means flagging and track-access windows, so build that into your number. Watch C&D's awards page for the award, and watch for the next phase of the Marble Hill wall in Metro-North's capital program.