City Council Approves $44.2M Boardwalk Rebuilding Contract

This story was updated at 6:04 a.m. on 4.5.13.

The Long Beach City Council on Thursday voted unanimously to take the next step toward rebuilding the oceanfront boardwalk, approving a $44.2 million contract with Grace Industries to construct the 2.2-mile tropical wood and concrete walkway.  

The Plainview-based construction firm will begin construction at the center section of the project, in the area between National Boulevard and Long Beach Boulevard, and will work according to certain milestones built into the contract to complete the structure within 210 days, said Peter Gerbasi, vice president of Liro, the Syosset-based engineering firm that the city hired to oversee the project. Gerbasi said the construction phase would break ground within 100 days, following preliminary work that includes everything from taking measurements to obtaining the materials for building, which could begin immediately upon awarding the contract and take up to 45 days.  

"Our expectation is for substantial portions of the boardwalk to be built within the first 100 days," Gerbasi told the council. 

Grace Industries was the second lowest among six bidders on the contract, which will be the first in which the city will utilize a project labor agreement that will employ Long Island workers. According to the contract, workers will operate on shifts up to 12 hours a day for six days each week until the boardwalk reconstruction is completed.

Both Gerbasi and Jim LaCarrubba, the city’s commissioner of public works, fielded various questions from the public about the project before the vote.

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