Bridge Bidding (Or, Why Not Just Play Go Fish?)

The Santiago Calatrava signature suspension bridge across the Trinity drainage channel to Ray's Sporting Goods--a gun shop--will be put out for new bids soon, City Manager Mary Suhm told me yesterday. That hasn't been public yet. You read it here first. Last time it was bid, the lowest bid was...

By Robert Wilonsky

August 11, 2006

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The Santiago Calatrava signature suspension bridge across the Trinity drainage channel to Ray's Sporting Goods--a gun shop--will be put out for new bids soon, City Manager Mary Suhm told me yesterday. That hasn't been public yet. You read it here first.

Last time it was bid, the lowest bid was sort of twice as much money as the city had--$113 million versus $64.5 million in the budget. Suhm told me she's hopeful a bit of tweaking and maybe a deal to use foreign steel will bring the bridge back within range of the budget.

I asked why they had to stick with steel. Given the fairly light amount of traffic we can expect going from downtown to Ray's on any given afternoon, why not build the bridge out of wood and just paint it silver? I know that the person running a multibillion-dollar operation like Dallas City Hall should not have to sit on the phone and hear stupid stuff like that. But I can't help myself, OK?

She said she thought a wooden bridge might be expensive to maintain. She knows how to take care of herself. See, you don't have to feel sorry for her. You should feel sorry for me.

I also heard a rumor yesterday that they want to use Italian steel (seriously). Provide your own punch line, I guess. --Jim Schutze

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