State to open bids on 47 road, bridge projects

Span replacement expected to exceed $80 million tag

More than three and a half years after it decided the Broadway Bridge must be replaced, the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department will open bids on the project Wednesday.

The bids, which are expected to exceed $80 million, may not be the biggest ones opened this week.

The Highway Department will open bids of 47 road and bridge projects totaling an estimated $303 million, making it the largest bid letting in the agency's history.

In addition to the Broadway Bridge, the department will open bids for a rehabilitation project on 17.2 miles of Interstate 40 in St. Francis County, which is expected to exceed $80 million.

"It will be interesting to see which of the ... two projects ... will become the single largest contract AHTD has awarded," said Danny Straessle, an agency spokesman.

Both are among three projects that account for nearly two-thirds of the $303 million estimated cost of the projects on which department officials will open electronic bids in two separate morning and afternoon sessions at the agency's main office in Little Rock.

The third project is also high-profile: It will complete the widening of I-40 between North Little Rock and Conway to six lanes and add an additional lane carrying traffic from Interstate 430 north to I-40 west and another from I-40 east to I-430 south. It is estimated to cost $30 million or more.

The previous high for a bid letting -- $222.5 million -- came in November 2012, according to Straessle. The letting included the largest single contract the department has awarded for a project -- $78.8 million to reconstruct a section of Interstate 540 in the Fort Smith area.

The record-busting bid letting likely won't be the last as the agency continues to make progress on two major highway construction programs that voters approved in 2011 and 2012. Together, they will result in nearly $3 billion in work over the next several years.

The interstate rehabilitation program is expected to result in more than $1 billion in work accelerated by voter renewal in 2011 of a program that allows the Arkansas Highway Commission to issue up to $575 million in bonds, which are repaid through future federal interstate maintenance money. The I-40 project in Forrest City is part of that program.

A year later, voters approved a half-percent increase in the statewide sales tax to support a $1.8 billion highway construction program devoted to projects of regional significance, mostly construction of four-lane highways to help "connect all four corners of the state" and widening existing highways to reduce congestion. The I-40 project between North Little Rock and Conway is part of that program.

The Broadway bridge project is part of the department's regular highway and bridge construction program funded primarily with federal highway money.

But the new work comes at a time when federal highway funding is uncertain.

"It's great that the people of the state decided we could meet those needs," said Roger Hedgecock, executive vice president of the Arkansas chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America, who called the two programs "an embarrassment of riches" for the state. "Frankly, we are the envy of other states because we have chosen to go our own way because the federal government can't get its act together."

On the one hand, Hedgecock said, Wednesday's bid letting will be "fascinating" to see which contractor submits the lowest bids on those contracts. On the other, though, Wednesday also will be business as usual for the contractors, who are competing with others trying to line up work for their companies for the coming year or years, he said.

Given the amount of work available in Arkansas, out-of-state contractors will be among those bidding for contracts, most notably on the Broadway Bridge replacement.

The department has said the existing bridge, which was opened to traffic in 1923, remains safe but is becoming too costly to maintain. It notified local officials in January 2011 that the bridge would be replaced. The department estimated it would cost $58 million to build what it deems a safe, efficient and functional bridge.

Pulaski County committed another $20 million to incorporate two basket-handle arches into the design instead of just one. That money would be paid over several years.

"The project has gained national attention, and we are seeing contractors from across the country take a look at the plans," Straessle said.

Indeed, eight of the 11 contractors that have purchased plans for the new bridge are from other states: Alabama, Iowa, Texas, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Missouri and Florida.

Not all contractors who purchase plans necessarily will submit a bid, but follow-up communication between the contractors and the department indicates a high level of interest, state highway officials said.

With all the new work from the voter-approved initiatives, Wednesday's bid-letting record likely won't last long.

"We are not sure if this letting is the high-water mark," Straessle said. "We will have other lettings with potentially higher construction costs. In December we will let the first portion of the Springdale Bypass. It's estimated to be as high as $120 million."

Metro on 09/15/2014

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