Plainview Firm Gets Long Beach Boardwalk Contract

The Long Beach City Council on Thursday voted unanimously OK'd a $44.2 million contract with Grace Industries of Plainview to construct the 2.2-mile tropical wood and concrete oceanfront walkway.

The famed boardwalk along the Atlantic Ocean waterfront was devastated by Hurricane Sandy.

The Plainview-based construction firm will begin work at the center section of the project, in the area between National Boulevard and Long Beach Boulevard, and will work according to certain milestones built into the contract to complete the structure within 210 days, said Peter Gerbasi, vice president of Liro, the Syosset-based engineering firm that the city hired to oversee the project.

Gerbasi said the construction phase could break ground within 100 days, following preliminary work that includes everything from taking measurements to obtaining the materials for building, which could begin next week. 

Grace Industries was the second lowest among six bidders on the contract, which will be the first in which the city will utilize a project labor agreement that will employ Long Island workers. According to the contract, workers will operate on shifts up to 12 hours a day for six days each week until the boardwalk reconstruction is completed.