New-York tribune., 1922-02-16
Is
Lowest Bid for
Vehicle Tunnel
Booth & Finn Offer to Do
Work for s1,7OO,OOO
Less Than Boards Esti-
mate of Reasonable Price
Firm Builds Many Tubes
Contract Expected To Be
Awarded Monday and Con.
struction Started at Once

Booth & Finn. Ltd. of Pitt sburph
and New York. with Sl9,250,oOO. was
the lowest bidder yesterday afternoon
Mt the Hall Of Records for the New
York and New Jersey vehicular tunnel
The award of the contract, which is
the largest single contract on record
either IN New York or New jersey, will
be made on Monday, according to the cx-
rectations of the interstate commits
sioners. who opened the bids
P. McGovern & Co., Inc. with bid
of S20,o600o0, was the second lowest
while Holbrook. Cabot & Rollins and
the Keystone State Contracting Com
pany, joining. were tho highest Of the
three. with bid of s2c,1e6,oOo.
The opening Of the bids was schcd
uled for Tuesday of last week, but
some Of the contractors failed to make
the necessary financial arrangements
and the tunnel commissioners deferred
action until Yesterday
Cut First Bid 100000
~ is understood that the winning
bid by the Booth & Finn Company was
about S500,0o0 under the bid they put
in eight days ago for tho same work.
Chief Engineer Clifford NJ Holland
of the interstate commission said that
the Booth & Finn bid is about
S1.7o0,000 below the commissions prior
estimate of what reasonable bid
would be, but his own informal esti-
mate Of the lowest bid camc within
$4,000 Of the official and winning low
bid.
"Thc tunnel commissioners and
engineers are exceedingly pratifed
over the successful bidding and the
fact that after honest and open com
petition one of the greatest engineer
ing aud contracting firms in the world
is the low bidder" said Mr.. Holland.
"They have just completed three twin
cast-iron shield tunnels under the
East River. at q cost of $4,000 900,
under five separate contracts.
zone Of these undertakings was the
building Of the Whitehall Montague
Street and the Old Slip-Clark Street
bores under the East River to Brook
lyn This was a job costing $12.500 900.
and up to to-day was the largest single
contract ever let in the state. The
vchicular tunnel contract ovcrtops that
portance. Booth e. Finn carried
through their work under war condi-
tions and had TO contend with many
pcrplexities, but they did their work to
the satisfaction Of the city and all
concerned.
"Jn 1919 the engineers of the vchicu-
lar tunnel commission estimated the
cost Of the present project at s23, ,5OO,-
900. The delay in getting the con-
struction under way has Injured to the
financial benefit of tho two states.
suspect that Booth & Finn took into
account the falling cost of labor and
materials and made their bid low in
consequence. Probably we shall make
the award next Monday
POstponement Fortunate
+. W. Bloomingdalc. Of the New York
commission, said:
"Thc postponcment of the opening of
the bids week ago was most fortu-
nate, for it insured genuine competi-
tion. Besides, the company that has
put in the lowest bid is thoroughly able
to carry out any undertaking it puts
its hands to. While the figures have
not been tabulated, there is little doubt
that Booth e. Finn is the lowest bid
der for the two main contracts. The
total cost of the work, the commissions
Continued on page thres)