If time is money, then Brutoco Engineering & Construction Inc. has saved cash-strapped California officials both. The Fontana, Calif.-based company won an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-funded contract in September to widen the congested 91 Freeway in Orange County. Its bid came in at about $20 million below and more than 400 working days under what California Dept. of Transportation (Caltrans) officials estimated. Brutoco believes it can do the job in about 300 working days, says Tracey Lavelle, a Caltrans spokeswoman. “This is a very aggressive timeline by the contractor,” she says.
The project came along at the right time for Brutoco, says Michael Murphy, president of the 43-year-old company. “[The bid] had a unique twist on it. [It] isn’t strictly low bid,” Murphy says. “It’s, ‘How fast can you do the job?’ ”