"What that plan shows is what is needed for the project," Morales said. "There is some leeway" over how much of a parcel the agency would buy, or how to deal with larger parcels that would be bisected by the rail line, he said.

"But until the Public Works Board approves the parcels, we can't actually get down to that level of discussion with property owners," Morales said.

The right-of-way plan indicates that the purchases likely will be spread out over the next two years, depending on the priority that contractors have put on each parcel for their construction needs. Nearly 130 parcels are proposed to be acquired by the end of this year, including 75 that will be needed by the end of September.

Construction bids due

Meanwhile, Friday is the deadline for contractors competing to build the Madera-Fresno section to submit bids to the rail authority.

But the winning company or team probably will not be known for weeks while the agency combs through the bid packages.

"This is not something like a typical Caltrans project, where you open the bid and you know the price and you know who wins," Morales said. For this project, contractors are bidding not only to build the rail line, but also to finish the design and engineering work.

Morales said the bids will be evaluated in two stages: the technical proposals, and then the price. A detailed review of the technical proposal will be judged on a pass-fail basis to ensure that the companies fulfill all of the requirements and provided all required certifications.

"We won't even open the prices for something like six weeks," Morales said. "We don't want a price to skew the technical review of the bids. But that also means that if a contractor doesn't make it through the technical review, we won't even open their price."

The rail authority estimates that the first construction package will cost $1.2 billion to $1.8 billion. It will include a bridge over the San Joaquin River, elevated tracks over Herndon Avenue, a tunnel under Belmont Avenue and Highway 180, an elevated railway to cross over Highway 99 at the south end of Fresno and 12 street or road overpasses.

Five construction teams were pre-qualified last year by the rail authority to bid on the first construction segment:

-- California Backbone Builders, a consortium of two Spanish construction firms: Ferrovial Agroman and Acciona.

-- California High-Speed Rail Partners, composed of Fluor Corp. of Texas, Swedish-based Skanska and PCL Constructors of Canada.

-- California High-Speed Ventures, made up of Kiewit Corp. of Nebraska, Granite Construction of Watsonville and Comsa EMTE of Spain.

-- Dragados/Samsung/Pulice, a joint venture of Dragados SA of Spain; Samsung C&T America, a subsidiary of South Korean multinational Samsung Group; and Pulice Construction Inc. of Arizona.

-- Tutor Perini/Zachry/Parsons, a consortium made up of Tutor Perini Corp. of Sylmar, Zachry Construction Corp. of Texas and Pasadena-based Parsons Corp.

"All five of them are still in this, as far as we know," Morales said last week. "We continue to have back-and-forth discussions with them, and we anticipate receiving five proposals."

The rail authority originally expected that bids for the work would be submitted in September with hopes of awarding a contract by the end of 2012. That deadline was pushed back, first to November and then to this month, at the request of the contracting teams as they sought more detailed information about the plans.

Redwood City man gets new rail term

Jim Hartnett of Redwood City was reappointed Friday to the California High-Speed Rail Authority board of directors.

Hartnett, a former Redwood City mayor and City Council member, is an appointee of the state Senate Rules Committee and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg.

Hartnett will continue to serve on the board along with Fresno businessman Tom Richards, former San Diego congresswoman and state secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing Lynn Schenk, former BART board Chairman Dan Richard of Piedmont, Orange County attorney and former state Assembly Member Thomas Umberg, and former Bank of America executive Michael Rossi.

Three seats remain vacant on the rail board: one yet to be filled by the Senate Rules Committee, one by Gov. Jerry Brown and one by the speaker of the state Assembly.

-- The Fresno Bee