The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' New York District opened bids Sept. 22 on solicitation W912DS25BA017, FIMI 3D Well Relocation Construction: a new water-supply well and pump house in the Village of Ocean Beach on Fire Island, in the Town of Islip. Two bids came in, and both landed well above the government's number.

The Corps' abstract of offers: LoDuca Associates, Inc., $8,367,796, and Galvin Bros., Inc., $9,591,582. The government estimate for the base work plus all options is $6,352,900. LoDuca's price is $2,014,896, or 31.7%, over the estimate. Galvin's is 51.0% over. The gap between the two is $1,223,786, or 14.6%. Both posted 20% bid guarantees and acknowledged three amendments.

The line items show where the two bids split. Mobilization alone ran $748,084 in Galvin's bid and $352,676 in LoDuca's, against a government estimate of $426,200. The two largest government line items are the pump house, site work and related construction at $2,885,700 and the permanent well installation, pumping and water analysis at $2,272,900.

The Corps' presolicitation lays out the job: a 1,000-gallon-per-minute deep well turbine pump; a wood-framed pump house on a reinforced concrete foundation sheltering the discharge head, motor, flow meter, piping, valves and electrical switchgear; a concrete driveway; a manual transfer switch and receptacle for a portable generator; and a discharge pipe carrying raw water to the village's existing treatment facility, with treated water tied into distribution. Options include chemical treatment of the production well, disinfection and a blow-off pipe to an existing outfall. The contract allows 230 calendar days from notice to proceed. It was a full-and-open sealed bid with no set-aside.

FIMI is the Fire Island Inlet to Moriches Inlet project, the Corps' beach and dune program along Fire Island, with Suffolk County and the state Department of Environmental Conservation as local sponsors, according to the National Park Service. Contract 3D is the piece that relocates Ocean Beach's well. The board listing is RFI-000927.

Why this matters. With only two bids, both far over, the Corps has to decide whether a 31.7% overrun is a fair price for barrier-island work or a sign the estimate missed it. Fire Island has no public road to Ocean Beach, so crews and materials move by boat, and that is the kind of cost a small well job's estimate can undershoot. Apparent low is not an award.

What to do next. Well drillers, pump and controls suppliers, SCADA integrators, electricians and carpenters with Fire Island access should price to LoDuca Associates. Watch SAM.gov for the award notice on this solicitation.

Update, Sept. 28, 2026: The Corps awarded contract W912DS26CA003 to LoDuca Associates, Inc. of Blue Point on Jan. 8, 2026, at its bid of $8,367,796, per the award notice on SAM.gov. Federal spending records list two offers received and a performance period ending Oct. 6, 2026.