Transportation Commission awards $15.7 million in highway contracts in January

Motorists will soon experience a smoother ride along a section of Interstate 80 near Rawlins.

The Wyoming Transportation Commission awarded Kilgore Companies (Lewis & Lewis Inc. of Rock Springs) an $8.7 million contract to resurface 6 miles of interstate between Rawlins and Walcott Junction in Carbon County. The commission awarded that and four other contracts totaling $15.7 million.

On I-80, the Wyoming Department of Transportation is having the section resurfaced because it’s showing signs of wear. 

Crews will work on one lane at a time, with traffic head-to-head. WYDOT officials anticipate crews will start work on the eastbound lane first.

For the bridge work, crews will resurface the bridge deck and reconstruct about 300 feet on each side leading up to the bridge.

The contract completion date is Oct. 31, 2019.

Other contracts the commission awarded included road surfacing, railroad crossing upgrades, chip sealing and other road work.

Knife River, of Cheyenne, was the low bidder, at $3.3 million, for an asphalt resurfacing contract on US 16 near Buffalo and WYO 136 near Riverton totaling 16 miles. Crews will use equipment that will chew up the existing material and mix it with another material which will bond it together. Then, crews will reapply the material to the roads and smooth it out. 

Crews will also install fencing, a web camera and weather sensor on US 16. The contract completion date is Oct. 31, 2018.

Bituminous Paving Inc., of Odesa, Minnesota, won a $2 million contract for chip seal work on several roads in northeast Wyoming.

Crews will apply the chip seal material to the roads to provide better friction for motorists and to protect the surface from moisture so the pavement lasts longer. The contract completion date is Aug. 31, 2018.

The commission also awarded contracts for:

• $1.4 million to Kilroy, of Afton, for stockpiling of salt and sand for winter maintenance in southwest Wyoming by May 31, 2018; and 
• $90,515 to Simon Contractors, of Cheyenne, for railroad crossing upgrades on Howe Road near Laramie in Albany County by April 30, 2018.

For additional information about this news release, contact Aimee Inama, senior Public Affairs specialist, at (307) 777-4013.