SFPUC approves $215.3 million Bay Tunnel contract after denying bid protest

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission voted on Dec. 18 to award the Bay Division Pipeline No. 5 Bay Tunnel construction contract (WD2531) to a joint venture of Michaels Construction, JD, and Coluccio after rejecting a protest from the second‑place bidder.

The commission considered arguments from protest counsel and from the apparent low bidder before taking a roll‑call vote. Robert Maxwell, an attorney with Rogers Joseph O'Donnell representing Bay Tunnel Constructor (a joint venture of Obayashi and Kennedy Construction), urged the commission to delay the vote so his client could review additional qualification materials that staff provided the previous night. Maxwell argued the solicitation required a managing partner or sponsor to meet certain bidder qualifications and said the low bidder’s joint‑venture paperwork did not clearly identify a managing partner. He also contested a handwritten, un‑initialed change to the submitted price and said the absence of written authorization to the bid…