Saving money, from concrete to lights

The chief executive officer for the budget-busting rail project said the biggest cost savings that can be realized at this stage lies in the way the coming station contracts are structured and packaged.

HART has compiled a list of line items to be struck from the job roster on the stations. The projected savings totals $41 million; the top two spots on the list, for $11 million, stem from the shift to "design-build" contracts that are smaller to draw more competition.

There are 166 items on the list. Here are just a few:

» $5 million — Replacing the exposed aggregate finish concrete to a standard broom finish in most areas.

» $3 million — Transfer platform box girder construction to the guideway contract (station and guideway construction has been combined in the same design-build contracts).

» $2 million — Minimize median landscaping (using low-upkeep "hardscaping" is seen as a way to save more throughout the system).

» $1-3 million — Minimizing landscaping at stations.

» $1.4 million — Substitute coated galvanized steel balustrades (railings) for the planned stainless steel balustrades, possibly at all stations.

» $1 million — Eliminate makai entrance and concourse at the Waipahu station (similar changes are proposed at other stations).

» $350,000 — Substitute white uplighting at station platform canopies for the original colored uplighting.