Two small Port Authority of New York and New Jersey contracts, two very different bid rooms. On April 15 the agency opened Contract WTC-104.001, replacement of the vehicle barriers at the Liberty Street Firehouse 10 and the Vehicular Security Center entrance at the World Trade Center. On Feb. 18 it opened Contract GWB-244.288, priority rehabilitation of the New York and New Jersey approach ramps at the George Washington Bridge.

Liberty Street drew two bids. Kian PJS JV LLC of New Rochelle was apparent low at $2,550,000. Gateway Demo/Civil Corp. of Hicksville bid $2,600,000. That is a $50,000 gap, 1.96%, about as close as two lump sums get. The job took a detour on the way: the Port Authority's Addendum No. 1, dated March 6, set bids due March 24, and the opening happened April 15. The board listing is RFI-000537.

The bridge job drew three bids and a wide spread. El Sol Contracting/ES II Enterprises JV of Maspeth was apparent low at $2,980,000. FCS Group LLC of Springfield, N.J., was second at $3,550,000, $570,000 or 19.1% higher. SH5 Construction Corp. of Brooklyn came in at $6,955,308.91, which is $3,975,308.91 above the low, a 133.4% spread. The median bid is $3,550,000. The board listing is RFI-000800.

The ramp work is concrete and bearing repair spread across both sides of the Hudson. The drawing list the Port Authority reissued in its Jan. 22 addendum names repair locations on Ramp LX1 over the Henry Hudson Parkway, the upper-level approach ramps, Ramp HR7 over a pedestrian walkway, Ramps HR2 and HR4 over Ramps HR7, HR8, HR9 and HR11, and the Hudson Street ramp over I-95 southbound in New Jersey, plus light posts next to the New Jersey approaches, general concrete repair details and repairs at bearing stools on Ramp LX1.

Neither job is awarded as of April 16. Both result sheets are preliminary, and apparent low is not an award.

Why this matters. Two bids $50,000 apart on a security barrier job says both firms read the drawings the same way; a third bid more than double the low on the bridge ramps says at least one firm did not. On bridge ramps over live highways, access and traffic staging can cost as much as the repairs themselves, and a 133% spread says the three bidders did not price those costs the same way.

What to do next. Concrete repair, bearing, traffic-control and lighting subs should price to El Sol Contracting/ES II Enterprises JV on the bridge ramps. Bollard, barrier-operator, electrical and paving subs should price to Kian PJS JV on Liberty Street. Watch the Port Authority's results page for award actions on both, and note that both jobs ran through the agency's Bonfire portal, where addenda and date changes post.