A team led by the engineering company seeking to build a large part of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project will collect $39.9 million for cost overruns after reaching a settlement on a New Jersey rail line project.
The settlement, approved earlier this month by the N.J. Transit Board of Directors, demonstrates the legal clout of Bechtel Infrastructure as it seeks to jointly design and build the first half of the 23-mile Northern Virginia rail extension.
It also shows that the final price tag of large-scale transit projects can change even after the trains are up and running.
The payment brings the cost of the 34-mile light-rail line from Camden to Trenton to more than $500 million. It comes eight years after Bechtel and Bombarier first were awarded the contract, according to documents provided by N.J. Transit.
The D.C. Metrorail system expansion to Dulles Airport already is plagued by uncertainty over its total cost to state and local taxpayers.
Estimates that put the project at $4 billion have steadily crept upward.
The two government agencies negotiating with Bechtel and its partner, Washington Group International, are reportedly working intensely to bring down the firms’ proposal to a figure that won’t break federal standards.
Officials have set an April 5 deadline for a negotiated price.
Bechtel spokesman Howard Menacker told The Examiner last week that the New Jersey case represented a rare instance. He said he does not expect a similar outcome for the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project.
“Very, very rarely do we end up in litigation,” he said. “This was a highly unusual circumstance.”
