The lone bid package for construction of a pedestrian bridge envisioned to connect a city garage to the incoming National Coast Guard Museum came in “significantly higher” than previously estimated and with a longer-than-anticipated building timeline, project officials said Friday. Plainville-based Manafort Brothers Inc. was the only firm last month to submit a bid for construction of a 400-foot, glass-enclosed walking bridge proposed to run from the Water Street garage to the museum with several entrance and exit towers along its length. The bridge will be turned over to the city once it is complete. The cost of the bridge is not part of the main museum project’s $150 million price tag, which is to be paid with a combination of state and private funding, though association officials are still trying to close a shortfall of up to $48 million. Work on the 89,000-square-foot, six-story building, which continues to rise on the city’s downtown waterfront, is slated to be complete next year.
Coast Guard museum bridge bid comes in ‘significantly higher’ than expected
