What was expected to be a $6.4 million Band-Aid to temporarily fix the dilapidating Coos Bay rail bridge will cover far less than originally thought.

The minimum bid on the project exceeded the expected cost of repairs by $2.2 million, sending the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay scrambling to find a quick solution before a rapidly approaching deadline cuts off the agency's source to federal funding.

"We received three bids," said port General Manager Allan Rumbaugh. "The low bid by Ross Brothers was about 33 percent over the estimate."

The company's low bid came in at $8.6 million. Hamilton Construction entered a $10.6 million bid and American Bridge proposed $10.9 million. The port's engineering estimates indicated the project's approximate cost would be about $6.4 million.

Compounding the problem of the overrun, the port is obligated to award the contract within the next four months or risk losing already appropriated federal funding.

"We are at the very end of the federal eligibility period," Rumbaugh said. "We have to do what we can."

Several years ago, U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., successfully lobbied Congress to appropriate $5.5 million to fix the railroad bridge but that source will dry up if the project isn't under way in four months.

Port officials say the fate of hundreds of timber and port-related jobs, that hang on the aging beams of the Coos Bay railroad bridge, is quickly running out of time.

Completed in 1915, the railroad bridge has received little in the way of rehabilitation since. The protective coatings on the bridge have been deteriorating, causing significant corrosion to steel supports on the various spans on the bridge. That has been eating into the life expectancy as well as the bridge's weight capacity.

An underwater inspection of the bridge indicates that the main swing span's foundations are exposed to marine animals boring into the structure and aren't as stable as they should be.

The port had expected to add five to eight years of life to the bridge by moving forward with the temporary fix. The swing span of the bridge - the most critical component - also would have been ensured a 25-year upgrade. In addition, the money would fund upgrades to both the north and south access points to bridge and some underwater pier work.

While more costly options could have fixed the bridge longer term, funding was not available and the bridges' rapid deterioration put industry and commerce at risk. Business and port officials said a rapid fix on the bridge could help buy time to find more funding but sources appear to be running dry.

The port already has received a $1 million grant from the state coupled with a $250,000 loan to fund the repairs. The Coos County Urban Renewal Agency and Coos Curry Douglas Regional Investment Board both have contributed $50,000.

Rumbaugh said port staff attempted to find additional funding to complete all approved repairs but has been unable find any open sources.

"Everything we've looked at says there are no other federal funding options available," Rumbaugh said.

The bids can be legally rejected because they exceeded the engineering estimate by more than 10 percent. The project is being managed by the Oregon Department of Transportation, which must officially reject the bids.

Port commissioners agreed by consensus to recommend ODOT not award a repair contract. Still, they were surprised that bids were so much higher than expected and questioned why construction costs came in so high.

Paul A. DePalma, director of Portland Operations for the port's engineering firm, Jacobs Civil, said the higher costs could reflect risks the companies had assumed they would undertake without fully understanding the proposed project. The project will require the work area on the bridge to be entirely enclosed to avoid dropping hazardous materials into the bay, DePalma said, possibly adding to companies' risk worries.

Commissioner Ingvar Doessing, though, challenged the initial engineering estimate as inaccurate and too low.

"The low bid was more than $2 million over and the other two were $4 million over," Doessing said. "It seems to me that our assessment the first time around may have been too low."

Port officials won't find out why the bids and estimate were so far apart until after they are officially rejected. DePalma said he intends to meet with the three contractors after the bids are denied to get a better understanding of what happened and what elements of the project can be delayed to reduce costs.

Preliminarily, DePalma suggested painting could be delayed until a later phase. If needed, he said some structural work atop the bridge span also could be deferred. But DePalma stressed he won't be able to give the port better answers about how to reduce costs until after he meets with construction officials.

"Based on that, I can meet with port and staff to figure out what could be pulled," DePalma said.