State picks $98.4 million bid to swap out Broadway Bridge

The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department accepted the lowest of four bids Friday to replace the Broadway Bridge in what will be the largest contract the agency has ever awarded.

Massman Construction Co. won the bid Friday after saying it could complete the project for $98.4 million while having the bridge out of commission for six months. A woman answering the phone at the company's Kansas City, Mo., headquarters said no one was immediately available to discuss the project late Friday.

The Highway Department opened the bids Wednesday. It received three other bids from out-of-state companies that ranged from $114.2 million to $115.4 million.

"We gave contractors 12 weeks instead of four to develop their bids, hoping they would find innovative ways to keep both the cost and time down," Highway Department Director Scott Bennett said in a news release Friday. "We're excited to begin this journey with Massman."

Next, the Highway Department will enter into a contract with the construction company. The agency and the company will have a pre-construction conference and review the plans. At some point, the Highway Department will issue a work order, and the company has 10 days to start work.

The Highway Department has not yet determined when the 90-year-old bridge will be out of commission.

"In the near future, we'll begin working out the details with the contractor to determine the detailed sequence of construction," Bennett said in the release. "Once we have a firm timeline for when the current bridge will be closed, we will provide as much notice and information as we can."

At first, the project was expected to detour the nearly 24,000 motorists who use the bridge daily for at least 18 months. The entire project will take about 2 1/2 years to complete, according to Massman's bid documents.

"This is a very large contracting firm," Highway Department spokesman Randy Ort said Friday about the six-month detour. "They are experienced in building big bridges. They feel like they have the resources to get this done."

There's also money on the line for the construction company.

If the company goes over the 180-day limit on detouring bridge traffic, it will be charged $80,000 for each day past the deadline. If the whole project goes over the 2 1/2 -year contract timeline, the company will be charged $23,000 for every day it goes over.

Highway Department officials have said if the construction company completes the project in less than the time bid, the company will receive bonuses based on the number of days remaining in the contract.

The department in 2011 originally estimated the project to cost $58 million, but that was for a standard plate girder bridge. Pulaski County then put up $20 million extra for a more elaborate design -- the double basket handle network tied arch.

The price tag went up with the more complex design, unique steel fabrication requirements, and rising concrete and steel costs, department officials said. The department, also taking into account a short construction timeline, had said it expected bids to come in over $80 million.

The department has said the bridge, built in 1923, is safe and structurally sound for motorists, but it has become increasingly costly to maintain. The Highway Department didn't have maintenance costs for the bridge available Friday.

Every bridge in Arkansas must be inspected every two years, but the Broadway Bridge is inspected more frequently, Ort said, adding that some parts are inspected every six months. The Broadway Bridge is mostly concrete, he said.

Replacing the aging bridge would reduce maintenance costs, Ort said, adding he didn't have an estimate on how much.

"It's been patched up and patched up and patched up," he said. "You can go look at it."

The Highway Department on Friday finished reviewing bids for 46 projects, including the Broadway Bridge and one for a portion of Interstate 40.

For the Broadway Bridge project, Massman beat out three other companies. Edward Kraemer & Sons Inc., based in Plain, Wis., submitted a $114.2 million bid. PCL Civil Constructors Inc. in Tampa, Fla., bid $114.4 million. Birmingham, Ala.-based Brasfield & Gorrie LLC submitted a $115.4 million bid.

Massman, a family-operated company, on its website boasts completion of more than 1,600 projects in and around waterways. It was responsible for building the U.S. 82 bridge over the Mississippi River near Lake Village -- what the company deemed as one of the longest bridges in North America -- and rebuilding the U.S. 90 Biloxi Bay Bridge, which was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Wednesday's bid letting was the Highway Department's largest, with apparent low bids totaling $231.5 million on the projects. It could have been larger, but one of the largest projects -- rebuilding a 17.2-mile section of Interstate 40 in St. Francis County -- was delayed because of a paperwork error. That bid is now scheduled for Oct. 8, Ort said.

Wednesday's bid letting included a project to widen 5.1 miles of Interstate 40 to six lanes from two lanes between Arkansas 365 at Morgan and Interstate 430 in North Little Rock. That strip is the last section of the interstate between North Little Rock and Conway to be widened.

That project also will widen two ramps at the I-40/I-430 interchange.

The Highway Department on Friday awarded McGeorge Contracting Co., of Pine Bluff, a $38.36 million contract to complete that I-40 project, which is expected to be done by mid-2016.

A section on 09/20/2014

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