September 12, 1997

Portland Airport collapse causes three-month delay

PORTLAND (AP) -- A three-month delay is expected in the expansion project at Portland International Airport's parking garage stemming from the July 31 construction accident that killed three steel workers.

Instead of opening in May, the garage might not be accessible to travelers until late next summer, Frank VanDeventer, president of Baugh Construction Oregon Inc., said Wednesday.

Project and Port of Portland officials also said they expect the accident will have little effect on the total cost of the airport expansion project, initially priced at $141 million.

Port commissioners have tabled a proposal to give Baugh as much as $1 million more to hasten completion of the garage steel work.

The steelworkers -- Donn Soto, Chris Rider and Nick Colouzis -- were killed when a frame made of steel I-beams, attached to the garage six to seven stories up, collapsed to the ground.

The subcontractor for which the men worked, Midwest Steel Inc., pulled out of the project after the accident.

VanDeventer said Wednesday that Midwest received a financial settlement to leave, but he said it was a cost borne by Baugh alone. He would not disclose the sum.

The Port has given Baugh the freedom to bypass the standard competitive bidding process to select a new company to complete the steel work on the garage work.

VanDeventer said the arrangement would save the garage project from another month's delay. He said Baugh hopes to hire a new steel outfit within the next two weeks and is interviewing three local companies for the job.

He also hopes the total construction delay might be two months instead of three.

Before any more steel framing is erected on the garage, the new company will have to fix a long list of problems with the existing steel work.

Oregon OSHA has told the Port that the corrections must be made before additional steel work can safely proceed on the structure.

Port and Baugh Construction officials say they still are estimating the total cost of the accident, but they expect the Port's insurance policy will cover most of the unexpected expenses.

"It's not going to affect the dollar figure that dramatically," VanDeventer said.

The $72 million garage renovation is the most expensive feature of the airport expansion, which also calls for enlarging the roadway in front of the terminal and enlarging the ticket counter area.

Officials hope foot traffic can resume through the ground floor of the garage in the next month, said Port of Portland spokesman Darrel Buttice.

Buttice said the Port hopes to resume use of the bottom two floors -- and 600 slots -- of the old parking garage long before the upper floors are completed.