Note 76 — Chapter X · CONTRACTS AND SPECIFICATIONS
Reading edition
An unbalanced proposal is one in which the bids on some of the items are obviously low and on other items are obviously or suspiciously high. The purpose of submitting unbalanced bids is to keep secret the true or supposed cost of the work to the contractor or to obtain more money by bidding high on those items which are believed to have been underestimated by the Engineer. A low bid is made on other items in order to keep down the total amount of the bid.