By Andrew Macdonald
Meet the Winning 104 HWY bidders
The winning $719 million bid cobbled together by Carl Potter & Donald Chisholm to twin the 104 HWY has been a successful result of some of the sharpest bidding contractors in all of the Atlantic.
When you consider Dexter Construction & Nova Construction competed for the twinning project, going up against global road-building giants – the word is ‘behemoth’ – from France & Spain, it is a significant achievement in the Maritime road-building community.
So who at the Dexter Nova Alliance possessed the sharper bidding pencils?
Well, at Potter’s Dexter Construction, his top estimator is the legendary road builder, Ken Thomas.
Thomas also won the bid to co-build the 45-kilometre Cobequid Pass, which opened in 1997.
At that time, Thomas was the top bidder for Tidewater Construction, which in its heyday would do $100 million in annual volumes.
That New Brunswick outfit is no longer in business, having wound up in the last decade.
Thomas at Dexter oversees a team of estimators – and they are so effective that each construction season, Dexter does about 70% of all NS government road-building work, usually billing in excess of $130 million annually.
Thomas was joined on the bid by Nova Construction’s chief estimator Paul White, a civil engineer, and former president of the Nova Scotia Road Builders Association.
He was aided by his brother, Danny White, who has a diploma in construction technology.
Dexter and Nova had the upper hand – a significant factor – because they built most of the existing 104 HWY corridor – including the 2013 opened 16-kilometre Antigonish By-Pass.
The partnership “ built the majority of the existing structures (20 of 26) along the project corridor, which increases their familiarity with the terrain, geology and the existing structures”, notes a report from rating agency Moody’s.
So Thomas and the White siblings only had to review bid prices for those previous jobs in completed – something that did not favour the global bidders from France and Spain.
Moody’s said the previous knowledge also meant that as it put forward its bid to also maintain the highway for the next 20-years, it had another advantage.
“This is a key mitigant to assuming the lifecycle for the existing assets that is typically a higher risk for a less familiar contractor”, reports Moody, a New York financial rating agency, relied on when an entity needs bonds, as in this case construction bonds, to determine any risk associated with the financing.
“As the (partnership) have built the majority of the existing project corridor, including most of the structures and pavement, there is a high level of unique experience that helps reduce the delivery risk on the project”, says Moody.
Moody noted the “level of detail” in theri bid. “…The quantities and unit rates were more advanced that typically seen at this early stage in a project’s development”, it said.
But, a big surprise to me is that Potter’s Dexter did not bring back it’s long time bidder, Cecil Vance.
Vance is a road-building legend, and at one point he owned 10% equity in Dexter, which has its corporate offices in Bedford, while its majority owner, Carl Potter resides in Chester, and winters in Florida.
Vance over the last ten years has gone into retirement, only to come out of it quickly.
But, the word is now reaching me that Vance, a product of Bass River, a community one over from Portipique, this time stayed in retirement and did not co-bid on the 104 HWY work.
I am sure though that before he went into official retirement, he might have shared his secrets and skill on bidding to Ken Thomas.
To illustrate how sharp an estimator Vance has been for Dexter, back in 2013 he made darn sure the firm won the award to pave the second phase of the 16-kilometre Antigonish By-Pass that year.
Vance bested an asphalt paving bid from Chapman Brothers, the Prince Edward Island outfit, which has had a presence on the Nova Scotia road-building scene since the 1990s.
Dexter via Vance quoted a price of $20-million in 2013, while Chapman bid $27-million for the tender.
Vance actually went into retirement in 2012.
The retirement was rather short-lived – and after just a few months in retirement, he was again reporting to work with Dexter. He retired once again last year.
So valued has Vance been in the successful history of Dexter Construction, at one point Carl Potter bestowed Vance with a 10% equity stake in Dexter, with Carl Potter and his family, owning a majority stake.
Vance’s passion outside of work is running Scotia Speedworld, the Maritime race track by the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.
The late Harry Poole & Cecil Vance, middle, were co-inductees as business partners in building Scotia Speedworld and the Maritime Pro Stock Tour.
To underscore why Vance has had the sharpest bidding pencil of all estimators in the region, let’s look at the 2013 Antigonish by-pass work, at the time the Highways department issued two tenders for the road paving, asphalt and concrete.
On the concrete bid, Vance was $12,000 less than Nova Construction – now that is a very sharp bidding pencil.
Cecil Vance Honoured in Maritime Motorsport Hall of Fame
Here is what the Maritime Motorsports Hall of Fame said in recent years when it inducted Vance into its venerable hall of fame:
Harry Poole – Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Cecil Vance – Fall River, Nova Scotia
Harry Poole passed away on February 26, 2014. He owned a road-building entity.
The late Harry Poole & Cecil Vance, middle, were co-inductees as business partners in building Scotia Speedworld and the Maritime Pro Stock Tour.
As co-owners of Scotia Speedworld and the Maritime Pro Stock Tour Harry Poole & Cecil Vance have contributed immeasurably to Maritime motorsports…
Notable achievements:
Scotia Speedworld celebrated its 25th anniversary season this year – first opening May 27, 1988
In its 25-year history, Scotia Speedworld has hosted numerous top sanctioning bodies, including American Canadian Tour (ACT), Maritime League of Legends, Maritime Pro Stock Tour, NASCAR, Pro All Stars Series (PASS), USHRA Monster Jam
Weekly racing has thrived at Scotia Speedworld for 25 years providing a forum for up-and-coming and veteran racers alike
In 2000, as co-owners of Scotia Speedworld Harry and Cecil co-founded what has become one of the regions most prestigious annual stock car races – the Atlantic Cat 250
In 2001, Harry and Cecil co-founded the Maritime Pro Stock Tour; that series has now thrived for 11 seasons and become known as one of the top pro stock car racing touring series in North America.
Of special interest:
Scotia Speedworld, through its long-time affiliation with the Dartmouth unit of the Philae Shriners, has generated more than $550,000 in 50/50 ticket sales. While half went to lucky ticket buyers at the track, the Dartmouth Shriners have raised $170,000 for the Shriners Hospital for Children, and track management have consistently donated their portion of the sales – now more than $105,000 – to the remedial seating unit at the IWK Health Care Centre in Halifax.
The ‘Shriners Classic’ has become one of the most anticipated annual races of the weekly racing season; 2011 marked the 18th edition of the event.
To learn more about Scotia Speedworld please visit www.scotiaspeedworld.ca.
