PLUM ISLAND — A contract for the Plum Island-Salisbury beach replenishment project could be awarded next week, if the low bidder for the job satisfies questions from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Edward O'Donnell, chief of the Navigation Section of the New England District, said the winning bidder, AIS Construction of Carpinteria, Calif., appeared to be planning to use equipment that is too light to handle the task of dredging the Merrimack River channel and depositing the yielded sand directly onto the beach at Plum Island Center and Salisbury.
O'Donnell said he and other Army Corps staffers had scheduled a conference call with AIS representatives for yesterday afternoon to discuss the situation.
He said the Army Corps should be able to decide by next week whether to go forward or rebid the project.
The timetable for the project has called for work to be done in January, February and March.
If AIS can't do it and new bids need to be sought, work would be postponed until the fall, O'Donnell said.
O'Donnell was speaking yesterday at a meeting of the Merrimack River Beach Alliance, a multi-agency task force that has been planning the project for more than a year. It is co-chaired by Newbury Selectman Vincent Russo and state Sen. Bruce Tarr, a Gloucester Republican whose district includes Newbury.
While the Army Corps considers the project to be mainly a dredging operation, islanders view it as at least a temporary solution to a serious erosion problem at Plum Island Center.
AIS Construction quoted a price of $3.25 million for the project, well below two other bids submitted Nov. 20 at the Army Corps New England District office in Concord.
The AIS bid was also within the Army Corps guidelines as being no more than 25 percent higher than the government's own estimate.
Although the figure that has been discussed for several months for the project was $4.1 million, the Army Corps' official estimate was $2.923 million, so the AIS bid was 11.2 percent higher.
The plan is to dredge the Merrimack River channel to a depth of 15 feet and deposit the sand directly onto the beaches at Plum Island and Salisbury.
The dredging operation is expected to yield up to 160,000 cubic yards of sand, 120,000 of which will go to Plum Island and the remaining 40,000 to Salisbury.
A 2,500-foot stretch of shoreline from Plum Island Center northward is the critical area for sand deposit. Beach erosion there is at its worst.
A little more than one year ago, a house at 16R Northern Blvd. was undermined so severely by the ocean that it had to be demolished
Owners of other nearby buildings have had to dismantle decks when erosion destabilized them.
The beach renourishment is intended to buy some time while officials work to rectify what they believe is the root cause of the erosion problem, the deterioration of the stone jetties that define the mouth of the Merrimack River.
Lower-hassle Screening to Be Tested at Airports
Raw Video: Dog Rescued From Icy Colo. Water
Helmet Camera Captures Calif. Fire Rescue
Worker Tells 911: Powell 'exploded the House'
Triple Win: Santorum Takes Minn., Mo., Colo.
Injured Marine Inspired by Homecoming
No Rape Charges Against Son of NYPD Commissioner
Egypt's Ruling Generals Play Risky Game With US
Former Komen Exec Defends Funding Cut
Skip the Coffee Cup and Inhale Your Caffeine Fix
Calif. Gay Marriage Ban Ruled Unconstitutional
Jury Selection for Ex-UVa Athlete Enters 2nd Day
Cab Driver Helps Wis. Family Escape House Fire
Staff Removed at LA School During Abuse Probe
Runaway Goat Leads Police on Wild Chase
