Tutor Perini Corp. won the competition to build the first 29 miles of the high-speed rail route on a low bid of $985 million, even though its design quality, safety plan and engineering, among other factors, ranked at the bottom of five teams seeking the work.
The highest-scoring team, led by the Spanish firm Ferrovial, bid $1.4 billion. The second-highest scorer, led by the Spanish firm Dragados, bid about $100 million more than Tutor.
A state Senate committee, a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives and the state auditor, among others, are looking at a variety of issues and allegations about the project, even as the state begins buying the first parcels of land ahead of the planned start of construction in July.
The House subcommittee on rail, chaired by Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Atwater), a bullet train critic, is expected to demand a detailed explanation of how the selection was made when he opens a hearing Tuesday in the San Joaquin Valley city of Madera, near where Tutor Perini would first sink its shovels into the ground.
“My biggest concern,” Denham said, “is that somebody could come in low and we would see wild change orders and wild price increases and the contractor would make money on the back end.”
