The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department opened apparent low bids Tuesday on 30 construction projects totaling $21.3 million, with the bid on one project accounting for more than 20 percent of the total.
Excluding the apparent low bid on a highway reconstruction project in Crawford County for $4.5 million, the low bids the department opened averaged about $578,763, a reflection of the modest scope of the projects. The low bids won't be final until agency officials review them for accuracy.
The total also was scaled back amid continuing uncertainty over the future of the Federal Highway Trust Fund. Last month, the department suspended 56 construction projects totaling an estimated $112 million from Tuesday's letting. This year, all told, the agency has pulled 61 projects worth an estimated $162 million from being considered for contracts.
The Crawford County project is the reconstruction of a 3.5-mile section of Arkansas 220 east from Lee Creek in the Ozark National Forest. Nabholz Construction Corp. of Rogers was the apparent low bidder.
Other significant projects on which low bids were opened, including the amount and the apparent low bidder:
• Replace two bridges on Arkansas 144 in Chicot County, $2.8 million, Manhattan Road & Bridge Co. of Tulsa.
• Repair the support assembly for the U.S. 64 bridge over the Arkansas River in Sebastian County, $2.3 million, Mobley Contractors Inc. of Morrilton.
• Overlay 4.71 miles of Arkansas 4 and Arkansas 169 in Desha County, $1.3 million, Redstone Construction Group Inc. of Little Rock.
• Resurface 3.26 miles of various highways in Garland, Saline, Lonoke, Clark, Pulaski, Chicot and Drew counties with a high-friction surface treatment designed to reduce wet-weather crashes, $1.2 million, DeAngelo Brothers LLC of Hazleton, Pa.
• Resurface 3.22 miles of various highways in Benton, Baxter and Boone counties with a high-friction surface treatment designed to reduce wet-weather crashes, $894,700, Baldwin Paving Co. Inc. of Marietta, Ga.
Metro on 04/22/2015