Dirt to fly for new Walmart
After nearly six years, construction bids will be advertised for the new Walmart Super Center on 13.4 acres in West Brownsville.
The 118,000-square foot store will be built along Route 40, about a quarter of a mile west of the Lane-Bane Bridge that spans the Monongahela River in Brownsville.
“The project goes out for bid next Tuesday,” said Terry E. McMillen Sr., founder and president of McMillen Engineering of Uniontown.
McMillen, whose firm has the project’s engineering contract, explained only contractors who are pre-qualified by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will be permitted to bid on the $12 million project. “It will be advertised for bids Tuesday. Then, 30 days after that the contract will be awarded and about 15 days after that, actual site work will begin.”
McMillen said site development will be conducted through the remainder of this year. Construction on the store will begin in February 2012 with the project targeted for completion Sept. 3, 2012.
McMillen said Wal-Mart Inc. decided to build a store on the West Brownsville Borough site five or six years ago. “At that point, Center West Sewer Authority was going to build their system but the bids they received were much higher than they anticipated,” which postponed the Walmart project.
“Essentially, Walmart was waiting on the sewer project,” which, McMillen added, “is under construction now.” He said the Center West facility is on schedule in its construction.
Calls and e-mails to War-Mart Stores Inc. for information about the new store were not returned by Friday afternoon.
McMillen, whose firm has engineered five Walmart projects, said it takes about one year to engineer “a project like this.
“We do everything, from getting the necessary state and federal permits to designing sewer and water lines. Storm water management is a big issue with these projects. We also designed a new signalized traffic intersection at the site.”
McMillen, who has been a professional engineer for more than 40 years, said his firm has added two new engineers in the past year to handle work of various new projects. “There aren’t as many projects in the area but the ones we get tend to be bigger. There aren’t as many small to medium construction projects right now,” he said.
Founded in 1977, McMillen Engineering is a full service civil engineering firm. The firm employs 28 professionals. The team of experts consists of professional engineers, registered land surveyors, civil engineers, structural engineers, wetland specialists, engineering technicians and support staff.