Constroversial construction company still making money on collapsed bridge

PCI workers were sandblasting, moving concrete and using other machinery when the old bridge collapsed. (Associated Press Photo)

The Associated Press

7/10/2008

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The road construction company facing scrutiny and possible lawsuits over its role in the deadly collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge holds one of the biggest subcontracts on the replacement.

Progressive Contractors Inc. will make nearly $3.6 million for paving and barrier work on the Mississippi River bridge project, according to records reviewed by The Associated Press. PCI was in the middle of a $2.4 million project to tear up concrete and put in a fresh road layer on the previous I-35W bridge when it collapsed Aug. 1, killing 12 motorists and one of the company's workers.

Federal investigators have cited a design flaw in some of the bridge's gusset plates, but also have said that the heavy loads of construction materials PCI had placed on the bridge over the most vulnerable gussets probably contributed to the collapse. A final National Transportation Safety Board report on why the collapse occurred is expected in the fall.

The new bridge is being built under a $234 million contract in a joint venture by Flatiron Constructors of Longmont, Colo., and Manson Construction of Seattle. The builders are on pace to finish in mid-September, three months ahead of schedule.

Records show Flatiron-Manson has parceled out $36.3 million of its work through 38 subcontracts as of Tuesday. PCI's is the sixth-largest.

St. Michael, Minn.-based PCI's contract covers paving on the approach lanes on each end of the 504-foot suspended portion of the bridge.

Bob Edwards, a Flatiron-Manson assistant project manager, said PCI was selected over two other paving companies on the basis of price and qualifications.

"They had a good reputation for getting in and getting the job done," Edwards said.

"We pursued it just as we do any other project as it applies to the work that we do," said Mike McGray, PCI's president. "It's business as usual as we've been doing for over 35 years."

PCI workers were sandblasting, moving concrete and using other machinery when the old bridge collapsed. One worker who was on a skid steer, Greg Jolstad, plunged into the river and was killed. Some of his co-workers were among the dozens injured.

Engineers involved in the investigation calculated that 577,235 pounds of construction materials and equipment were staged above the most vulnerable gussets.

Minnesota Department of Transportation chief Tom Sorel has questioned PCI's placement of the materials, telling legislators in a letter last month that the bridge's designer "would not have imagined the contractor would stockpile all the material on the bridge."

Agency and Flatiron officials, however, said the company's work on the old bridge didn't figure in the bid selection. MnDOT could have vetoed PCI's inclusion but didn't.

Terry Ward, MnDOT's deputy project manager for construction, said the agency is "more than happy" to have PCI involved.

"They are qualified to bid work. They are qualified to sub-bid work," Ward said Wednesday. "There hasn't been any direction given to us that they are not capable or qualified at all."

Minneapolis attorney James Schwebel, who is representing a group of collapse victims, said he doesn't begrudge PCI for seeking out the contract.

"I certainly do hope they do prosper and make money. They'll be in a better position to compensate some of the victims," Schwebel said. "Whenever the lawsuits are filed they're certainly going to be at the party."

No safety citations related to the collapse were issued against PCI. Investigators concluded that all workers were wearing proper gear and a rescue boat was located nearby in case of emergency.

PCI and MnDOT have had mixed relations since the collapse. In January, the company's lawyers filed paperwork preserving its right to sue the state on workplace safety and breach of contract grounds. McGray said no final decision on a lawsuit has been made.

Sen. Kathy Saltzman, a member of the Joint Legislative Committee on the I-35W Bridge Collapse, said MnDOT or consultants it had hired to study the bridge's structural flaws should have raised red flags about PCI's construction load before the collapse.

"If what they were doing was unusual, then why was it not noted by the on-site supervisor?" Saltzman said. "Why wasn't it pointed out to them?"

In April, MnDOT issued new guidelines restricting the storage of materials and the weight allowed on a bridge to levels similar to traffic loads routinely expected on a bridge.