Monorail team hit by firms' pullout | Seattle P-I

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Monorail team hit by firms' pullout
Contractors' decision leaves one intact bidder

By LARRY LANGE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Two major construction companies have withdrawn from a team proposal to build Seattle's $1.6 billion monorail system, leaving for now only one intact bidder and raising questions about whether officials can stick to an ambitious timeline for the project.

Only two teams have been expected to submit bids to the Seattle Monorail Project by a mid-June deadline. The teams are led by two of the world's largest transportation companies, monorail train builders Hitachi Ltd. and the Bombardier Transit Corp.

Now Bombardier's team is scrambling to reorganize after Omaha, Neb.-based Peter Kiewit Sons' Inc. and Granite Construction Co. of Davis, Calif., have told Bombardier they're withdrawing as prime construction contractors for the 14-mile system.

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