COLUMBIA--The state awarded a $59.6 million contract Thursday to two Massachusetts-based companies for the demolition of the two existing Cooper River bridges.

Officials had said the demolition likely would cost about $40 million, but in-house engineers had figured the price tag at between $53 million and roughly $77 million, putting the winning bid on target with estimates.

The contract requires the companies, Jay Cashman Inc. and Testa Corp., to begin tearing down the Grace and Pearman bridges soon after the new Cooper River bridge opens this summer.

Palmetto Bridge Constructors, the company responsible for building the new eight-lane bridge a year ahead of schedule, was among the three companies to bid on the contract. Wade Watson, the company's project manager, said that with equipment and manpower already on site, he thought Palmetto would have had an advantage over the competition.

"We gave it our best shot," Watson said. "Unfortunately, we weren't the low guys."

The state is intent on being reimbursed for the nearly $60 million demolition project, said Bobby Clair, the state Department of Transportation's director of engineering and special projects. Among the options, he said, are federal money or working with the State Infrastructure Bank.In the meantime, the state has allocated $40 million from its 2005 new construction budget and will designate another $20 million from its 2006 budget if it's unable to come up with another funding source.

The need to keep the demolition cost low altered two key points about the process, including how quickly the demolition team would have to clear the Cooper River's shipping channel and how much of the steel and concrete debris would be added to artificial reefs.

The contractor no longer will be required to clear the shipping channel within 180 days. The channel now can be cleared at any time throughout the 18-month-long demolition contract.

Although the State Ports Authority contributed $45 million toward the construction and demolition projects, port officials wouldn't be upset with the delay if it were being done for the right reasons, SPA spokesman Byron Miller said.

"We won't realize the full benefits (of the new bridge) until the obstructions to the channel are removed," Miller said. "But if there are cost-saving reasons (to the change), we can appreciate and understand that, as long as it is not an unreasonable delay."

When the old bridges are removed, the vertical clearance will jump from 150 feet to 186 feet and the width of the channel will expand from 600 feet to 1,500 feet. More clearance will give larger ships access to port terminals.

Once the decision to clear the shipping channel begins, the contractor must have the task completed within 24 hours. The contractor will be penalized for each additional hour bridge columns block the new channel, Clair said.

When demolition talks began several years ago, it was more expensive to recycle steel than to haul it out to sea. The two demolition proposals that opted to recycle the steel were both more than $36 million less than the one proposal that suggested all the steel be added to reefs.

The contractor's decision to recycle the 22,185 tons of steel isn't surprising, but the 231,396 tons of concrete still is a large amount to add to existing reefs, said Bob Martore, artificial reef coordinator with the state Department of Natural Resources.

He said DNR is exploring the idea of paying for other barges to help transport the concrete debris so more of the coastline can benefit from the material. Under the demolition contract, most of the debris would be deposited at 12 reef locations between McClellanville and Edisto Island.

"Those big, tall structures would have been great, but it's kind of what we expected," Martore said.

REMOVING THE BRIDGES

Bidders Contract cost Steel recycled

Jay Cashman Inc. and Testa Corp. $59.6 million 95 percent

Palmetto Bridge Constructors $66.3 million 95 percent

United Contractors $95 million 0 percent

Scope of work:

-- Removal of John P. Grace Memorial Bridge

-- Removal of Silas N. Pearman Bridge

-- Miscellaneous construction and demolition items

-- Transport and placement of material to artificial reef sites

-- Completion of new bridge's bike and pedestrian access lanes

-- Construct roughly 2.4 acres of wetland mitigation near the Mount Pleasant shoreline

-- Reconnect Charleston city streets

-- Interstate 26/U.S. Highway 17 interchange improvements

-- Provide memorabilia from Grace bridge to Mount Pleasant's new waterfront park

-- Construct observation pier in Mount Pleasant (paid for by Mount Pleasant)