Plainview Construction Firm Expected to Win Sandy Contract

A Plainview construction firm is expected to be hired to help rebuild the boardwalk at Long Beach all but destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.

The Long Beach City Council on Thursday will vote on a contract with Grace Industries, a Plainview-based civil/heavy highway construction firm, to build the proposed tropical wood and concrete walkway at a cost of $42.2 million.

“We anticipate holding a special city council meeting this Thursday evening, whose sole purpose will be to award the winning bidder of our boardwalk reconstruction project,” City Manager Jack Schnirman announced at the start of Tuesday’s council meeting.

The city received bids from six firms to rebuild the boardwalk, and Liro, the engineering firm that the city hired to oversee the project, would interview the three firms that submitted the lowest bids, Schnriman said. Liro was expected to make a final recommendation to the city’s department of public works Wednesday. Grace Industries was the lowest bidder. 

“This bid will be the first bid in which the city has utilized a project labor agreement, which basically means the boardwalk will be built by skilled workers from our local Long Island workforce,” Schnirman said. 

Jim LaCarrubba, the city’s commissioner of public works, said that a “considerable” amount of the boardwalk will be completed by summer’s end, and the city plans to open sections as they become completed, he told Newsday. 

The city's famed 2.2-mile boardwalk was destroyed during Hurricane Sandy. The new boardwalk is estimated to have a lifespan of up to 40 years.

Thursday's meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Long Beach City Hall.