Kodiak's only bid to replace a key sewage station came in at twice the estimate

Kodiak needs to replace the pump station that handles 80 percent of the city's sewage — and the only bid it got came in at $16.3 million, more than double the $7.2 million engineers estimated it should cost.

It's the second time the city has put the job out to bid, and the second time the price blew past the estimate. The first round was rejected for the same reason.

The city doesn't have the option of waiting. The state has ordered Lift Station 5 replaced by the end of 2027, under an agreement that followed a 2019 failure of the pressurized sewer line, which spilled effluent into Mission Lake and cost more than $250,000 in emergency repairs.

So the city is trying to find savings before committing. The council voted unanimously Thursday to pay PND Engineers up to about $160,000 to drill more test holes at the site, pulling the money from the project's construction budget. The idea is to get better data on what's underground.

One of the biggest cost drivers is what it takes to dig there: holding back soil more than 35 feet deep requires a wall of driven steel beams, and that shoring is expensive. If the test holes show the ground is more forgiving than assumed, engineers may be able to design a smaller, cheaper support system.

The city gave the low bidder, Brechan Construction, a notice of intent to award back in July while it looks for those savings. Early results from the drilling are expected this week, with a full report due in October.