Hat-tip to CAHwyguy, who mentions that the Macarthur Maze, damaged by a gasoline tanker truck explosion almost 4 weeks ago, will be fully reopened.
The contractor, who also quickly rebuilt an L.A. freeway that collapsed after the Northridge earthquake, rebuilt the collapsed overpass after only 17 days of work. Quoting a San Francisco Chronicle article on the subject:
Caltrans officials worked to speed the process by preparing a list of potential contractors it knew could do the work quickly and by streamlining its process, clearing as much red tape as possible. Then they drew up a contract offering a $200,000 bonus — with a limit of $5 million — for each day the work was done in less than 50 days and levying a $200,000 penalty for each day after that deadline.[...]
When he opened the first bid — $1.1 million — from California Engineering Contractors, the crowd of about 30 quieted. It turned silent when the fifth bid, from C.C. Myers Inc., came in at $867,075. No one could beat that.
At about 3:30 p.m., Caltrans awarded the contract to C.C. Myers. Myers and Caltrans Director Will Kempton signed the contract, and then Myers turned to several television cameras and promised to complete the job in 25 days — half of Caltrans’ estimate and just in time to collect the full $5 million bonus.
It cost C.C. Myers $2.6 million to do the job. He bid below cost and gambled on the bonus. The article quotes him as saying: “It’s not about making a huge profit. It’s about getting the job done quick and pointing out that you’re one of the best contractors in the industry.”
Nice.