City to award bid for boardwalk rebuild

A month after the city unveiled designs for a new, stronger boardwalk, officials are expected to select a company on Thursday to rebuild the iconic structure.

The City Council is expected to award the contract to the winning bidder, Plainview-based Grace Industries, LLC, at a cost of $44.2 million.

City Manager Jack Schnirman said on Tuesday that six companies had submitted bids on March 28, in the hope of being awarded a contract to rebuild the 2.2-mile boardwalk, a project that is estimated to cost $40 million.

The bids were narrowed down to three, and Schnirman said that the council is expected to award a contract to lowest responsible bidder at a special council meeting on Thursday at 7 p.m. On Wednesday, the city named Grace Industries as the lowest bidder.

According to the company's website, Grace Industries has worked on numerous multi-million dollar projects that include rebuilding bridges, highway bypasses, airport taxiways, and complex drainage and earthmoving logistic projects. It has worked on projects for the New York state and city Departments of Transportation, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Nassau and Suffolk counties, including a $55.7 million reconstruction project for the Northern State Parkway Bridge over route 110 in Melville.

In January, the city entered into a $565,000 agreement with a Syosset-based engineering firm, the LiRo Group, to oversee the construction and help with the bidding process. LiRo was selected after the city issued a request for proposals in December for boardwalk designs and specifications.

“The six bids were reviewed and the three companies that submitted the lowest bids were interviewed by LiRo,” Schnirman said. “… On Wednesday, we’re getting a final recommendation from LiRo for city approval, and then a resolution will be drafted for Thursday.”

Schnirman declined to disclose the details of the bid submissions, but said that the city is looking at those that met the proposed design specifications for a new boardwalk. “LiRo has to interview them and determine whether they met the specifications that were asked for,” he said.

Last month, officials unveiled a preliminary design for the structure that incorporates durable and sustainable materials, and factors in public input gathered by Sustainable Long Island, as well as a survey indicating that a majority of residents prefer a boardwalk that is a combination of wood and concrete.

The design features a low-maintenance tropical hardwood that has a 30- to 40-year lifespan, and is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for running and other recreational activities. A wooden span with concrete edges will be built from National Boulevard to Long Beach Road, while the boardwalk’s eastern and western sections will be all wood.