The city has narrowed down a list of construction teams vying to build two new bridges in Saskatoon.
Bridge City Infrastructure Group, Bridge City Partners and Graham Commuter Partners beat out four other groups who applied to the city’s request for qualifications to build the North Commuter Parkway and new Traffic Bridge.
The three will now move on to the project’s next stage — request for proposals.
“The successful team from this stage of the procurement process will be chosen to partner with the city on this important project,” said Dan Willems, the city’s Bridging to Tomorrow project manager.
The winning bidder will be tasked with not only building the bridges, but also maintaining them for 30 years.
“As the project comprises not just the initial design and construction, but the operation and maintenance of the projects for a 30-year term, the RFP (Request for Proposals) is a very comprehensive undertaking,” said Willems.
The total project — replacing the Traffic Bridge, building a north commuter bridge and related roadwork — is estimated to cost $250 million.
Saskatoon’s city council approved funding the project under a P3 — public-private partnership— model in March.
The province committed $50 million to the north commuter portion of the project earlier this year while the federal government committed $66 million from its P3 Canada Fund to both bridges.
The city said a project team is working to finalize a proposal document that will be released to the short-listed firms in December 2014.
The 107-year-old Traffic Bridge, which connected Victoria Avenue to the city’s downtown, was closed in 2010.
