A high-stakes negotiation may soon take place in the Washington, D.C., area between contractors on one of the East Coasts biggest transportation projects and state and federal agencies. Prime contractors and their steel fabricators and erectors on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge have asked for relief from last winters sudden financial blow, when raw steel suppliers informed fabricators and erectors of sharply higher prices and limits on shipments. Rather than eat the losses, the contractors are seeking relief.
Question marks hovering over the 7.5-mile-long bridge project, which will link Maryland and Virginia across the Potomac River, have produced much anxiety. With less than half the steel delivered or in place so far on the bridge, contractors on its three key sections have asked Maryland, Virginia and U.S. transportation officials to share some of the cost increase.