Infra Insight Blog : written by Nossaman LLP Infrastructure attorneys, covers infrastructure project delivery, including Public-Private Partnerships, Operations & Management Agreements, policy, and news.

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The Port of Long Beach, one of the largest and busiest Ports in the world and a major inter-modal center for the cargo movement throughout the Western United States and beyond, has reached a major milestone in the approximately $1B plan to replace the Gerald Desmond Bridge on a design-build basis using the authority granted by California’s design-build demonstration program. As the first cable-stayed bridge ever built in California, the project is expected to be a landmark structure for the Port and surrounding communities.

On September 30, the Long Beach City Council approved the environmental impact report (EIR) for the project. The federal environmental approval for the Project is imminent, awaiting only a final signature. The Port expects to issue a request for qualifications as early as the first week in November following the anticipated approval of the project under the design-build demonstration program by the California Transportation Commission. There will be a lot of interest in this project among the major global construction and engineering firms. It’s a signature project at one of the most dynamic and forward-thinking port facilities in the world.

Points of Interest:

• $1B design-build project
• Received approval from Long Beach City Council on September 30, 2010
• Innovative procurement under the same California statute as P3s
• Complex construction of first cable stay bridge on this scale in California history
• A vital route for cargo, the bridge carries about 15 percent of the nation’s goods