http://smmercury.com/2012/08/06/hays-county-awards-contract-for-fm-1626-widening/ Sat, 25 May 2013 19:18:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://smmercury.com/2012/08/06/hays-county-awards-contract-for-fm-1626-widening/#comment-405308 Jason Rutherford Tue, 07 Aug 2012 02:24:46 +0000 http://smmercury.com/?p=59620#comment-405308 Great news! Hopefully this expansion project will proceed smoothly and with minimal impacts to commuters, nearby residents, and the sensitive natural areas through which it traverses. I mention this because counties (and other government entities) often pick the lowest bid when choosing a contractor, and those who have witnessed this process over the years know that you get what you pay for. The irony of course is that the low bid often balloons to far beyond the middle or higher bids when cost overruns and repairs to shoddy work are factored in. Indeed, the best contractors often do not bother submitting bids for government work because they know that they can’t compete. I mention all of this after noting how much lower SEMA’s bid is compared to the recent cost estimate and then reviewing SEMA’s compliance history on EPA and OSHA databases. It’s unfortunate that the contract wasn’t awarded to a Texas company (if any bothered to bid), and a bit surprising that a company from 1000 miles away could underbid anyone.

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