Early start for 49ers stadium work

It’s inevitable. There’s no sense in trying to stop it now.

The 49ers will have a new stadium in Santa Clara sooner rather than later, as the City Council passed three resolutions, including an $876 million construction contract, to pave the way for construction to begin in July, well ahead of schedule.

With construction of the $1 billion state-of-the-art stadium starting six months early, it is all but certain that the 49ers will move into their new home prior to the 2014 season.

That’s good news for the two construction companies that will be working together to build the stadium. If Turner Construction and Devcon Construction finish the enormous project just one week before the first 2014 exhibition game, they receive a $5 million bonus.

If they don’t finish on time? A pricey delay of game flag will be thrown, with the companies possible having to pay up to $20 million as a penalty.

That’s pretty good incentive to get the job done on time.