THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 22, 1994 TAG: 9412220506
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commission took two big steps in recent weeks toward construction of a second bridge to parallel its first span across the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.
It opened bidding on the project, estimated to cost about $250 million, on Dec. 15. Bids are due by Feb. 14. Seven construction firms have pre-qualified with the commission to bid on the project.
The commission also received tentative permission from a federal bankruptcy court judge in Norfolk to buy a 36-acre site on Little Creek owned by Jonathan Corp.
The judge oversees Jonathan, a Norfolk-based ship repair company striving to emerge from bankruptcy reorganization.
The commission agreed to pay $4.2 million for the property wedged between the east and west sides of the Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base. It plans to use the site as a staging area for the construction of the new bridge, said James G. Brookshire, executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel District, which operates the tunnel for the commission.
Jonathan's Little Creek Shipyard offers the closest access to the project site and a safe harbor for floating construction equipment, Brookshire said.
The commission will likely award the project to the winning bidder in March, and construction of the span would begin in April, he said. It's scheduled to be completed in April 1999.
The second bridge would parallel the existing bridge and serve southbound traffic from the Eastern Shore. Traffic on the bridges would funnel into the existing tunnels under the shipping lanes.
The commission may opt to build two new tunnels at a later date. New tunnels would cost about $800 million today.
``It's the largest project in the state and you can tell by the list of bidders that it's attracting some of the biggest names in construction in the country,'' said Ed McLaughlin, president and chief executive of Tidewater Construction Corp., the only local firm bidding on the project.
Other bidders include Morrison Knudsen, Brown & Root Inc. and J.A. Jones Construction Corp., either alone or in partnership with other construction firms.
Tidewater Construction is bidding in partnership with Kiewit Construction Corp. of Omaha, Neb. The two firms joined to build the first span, known as one of the seven man-made wonders of the world, in the early 1960s.
The 36-acre site that the commission plans to buy once served as the terminal for the ferries that the 17.6-mile bridge and tunnel replaced.
The commission hopes to close the sale by mid-January, Brookshire said.
The property includes a 500-foot concrete pier, a 28,000-square-foot warehouse and a 2,500-square-foot office building.
As part of the sale, the commission will agree to honor the lease of the Marine Spill Response Corp., which docks the oil spill clean-up ship Virginia Responder at the site's pier.
The commission also will lease back part of the warehouse at the site and some parking to Jonathan rent-free for four years, so that Jonathan can maintain a steel-fabrication facility there.
The $4.2 million sale price is less than the property's assessed tax value of $5.5 million. As listing agent for the property, Harvey Lindsay Commercial Real Estate got a $200,000 commission on the sale.
The remaining proceeds of the sale will likely go to NationsBank of Virginia, Jonathan's secured creditor for the site.
Jonathan sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its creditors in December 1993. It's working to get creditor approval of its third plan of reorganization. A confirmation hearing for that plan is scheduled for Jan. 25., 1995. ILLUSTRATION: Map
STAFF
Color photo
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
The second bridge would parallel the existing bridge - serving
traffic from the Eastern Shore - and would funnel into the existing
tunnels. The commission may opt to build two new tunnels at a later
date.
Graphic
PRE-QUALIFIED TO BID FOR CONTRACT
SOURCE: Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel District
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB