[FONT=Verdana]More than two years after United Airlines threw in the towel on its troubled automated baggage system at Denver International Airport, DIA is seeking City Council approval of contracts for the demolition of the system and other work.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]The proposed contracts with Western Industrial Contractors Inc. and February Enterprises Inc. would last up to four years for demolition of much of the baggage-handling system. It also could include other steel work, said DIA spokesman Jeff Green.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]Each company would be offered a contract for up to $9 million. Green said the removal of the baggage system will cost "much less" than $9 million, but the contracts could be used for other steel work.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]"By having two contracts, we could pose the work to two vendors and presumably choose the better pricing," he said.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]Parts will be removed from the basement of the terminal and Concourse B. "Everything that's pulled out, we believe can be recycled," Green said. [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]The baggage system delayed DIA's opening several times and cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars. The airport opened in 1995.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]When the system didn't work as planned, the city turned the system over to United, which used it to transport baggage leaving Denver up until 2005. [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]But the automated system caused too high a rate of mishandled baggage for United, so it stopped using the system altogether and now handles all bags manually. [/FONT]