PB firm submits bid
on I-430/30 project
One bid was received Wednesday by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department on the first phase of the Interstate 430/Interstate 30 interchange project.
McGeorge Contracting Co. Inc. of Pine Bluff submitted a bid of $13,383,442.18 for the project and said it could do the work in 200 days. Four contractors were provided bid packets.
The department had received bids on June 4 for the entire project. The bids were more than double the department's estimated cost, so they were rejected and the project was divided into two phases.
The first phase involves adding a southbound ramp off I-430, widening the frontage road on I-30 westbound, closing the exit for Mabelvale Pike and Otter Creek Road on I-30 westbound, and creating an exit east of the interchange for westbound traffic on I-30.
The department will study the bid and make a decision by Friday, or possibly Monday, on whether to accept it, said Randy Ort, public information officer.
The interchange is being reworked to address the growing problem of traffic leaving Little Rock and heading south and west.
-- Jack Weatherly
Profit $5.3 million
for Deltic in quarter
Deltic Timber Corp. had net income of about $5.3 million during its 2014 second quarter, down from $11.3 million in the same quarter a year ago, the El Dorado-based company said Wednesday.
Deltic reported a one-time gain of $5.7 million in the second quarter last year from the purchase of the remaining 50 percent ownership of the Del-Tin Fiber fiberboard plant and a conversion of assets in the company's manufacturing segment.
Earnings per share for the 2014 quarter were 42 cents, down from 88 cents a year ago.
During the second quarter, Deltic Timber had about $58.6 million in sales, compared with $53.2 million in the same period last year.
Deltic will hold a conference call today at 10 a.m. to discuss its second-quarter financial results. The call can be accessed at (877) 703-6110 using pass code 36732478. It can also be accessed online at deltic.com.
-- Jessica Seaman
State index up 1.39;
nine gain, eight lose
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 1.39 to 355.47 Wednesday.
Winners outpaced losers, nine to eight.
Bear State Financial was the leading issue, rising 3.7 percent in light trading.
USA Truck rose 1.5 percent on low volume.
Acxiom lost about 1 percent on less than half its average volume.
Murphy Oil, P.A.M. Transportation Services and Windstream hit 52-week highs during the session.
Total volume of the index was 14.1 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 07/24/2014