Transportation Commission awards $33.5 million in highway contracts

Contracts totaling $33.5 million for 12 highway projects around the state, including three to be funded with increased fuel tax revenue, were awarded by the Wyoming Transportation Commission during its March meeting in Cheyenne.

Cheyenne’s Reiman Corp. won the largest of the contracts with the low bid of $4.9 million to replace and repair damaged concrete slabs on a mile of US 14A-WYO789 (Main Street) in Lovell. The road repairs account for $2.4 million of the total contract and will be paid for with revenue from the 10-cent fuel tax increase. Also included in the contract is replacing water and sewer lines under the road at a cost of $2.5 million, and that will be paid for by the town of Lovell. The contract completion date is Oct. 31.

Reiman also was awarded a $2.6 million contract for rehabilitation work on I-80 bridges in the Cheyenne area. Four bridges over Crow Creek west of the College Drive Interchange and the approaches to the bridges will be repaired, along with the bridges at Remount west of Cheyenne and Archer east of Cheyenne. The work is expected to be done by Oct. 31.

Hedquist Construction of Mills won a $4.5 million contract for reconstruction of the intersection of CY Avenue (WYO 220) and Poplar Street in Casper. The work will include widening to accommodate an additional left-turn lane on CY and right-turn lanes on Poplar to improve traffic flow at the busy intersection. The contract completion date is May 31, 2015.

Casper’s Oftedal Construction was the low bidder at $4.3 million for a contract to rebuild a 2.3-mile section of US 287 at Diversion Dam Junction west of Riverton. The work will address problems with unstable soils under the highway by installing three layers of geogrid, a heavy plastic mesh, in the soil before the road section is rebuilt. The project will be paid for with revenue from the 10-cent fuel tax increase, and the contract completion date is June 30, 2015.

S&S Builders of Gillette will complete rehabilitation work on 10 bridges on I-25 and I-90 under a $3.8 million contract awarded. Most of the work will involve deck repairs, but a full deck replacement on the I-90 bridges over Houston Creek west of Sundance will require diverting traffic to the other side of the highway, and work on the I-25-I-90 Interchange at Buffalo will require closing the middle level of the interchange, which carries traffic going from westbound I-90 to southbound I-25. The work is scheduled for completion by Aug. 31, 2015.

Six miles of WYO 196 about five miles south of Buffalo will have deteriorating pavement removed and replaced with a new layer of pavement under a $1.9 million contract won by McGarvin-Moberly Construction of Worland. The work between Crazy Woman Canyon Road and the Bull Creek bridge will be funded with increased fuel tax revenue and is expected to be done by Oct. 31.

Intermountain Slurry Seal of Watsonville, Calif., submitted the low bid of $3.1 million for chip sealing work to preserve the pavement on highway sections in Lincoln, Sublette, Sweetwater, Teton and Uinta counties by Aug. 31. Intermountain also won a $2.6 million contract for chip sealing on highways in Campbell, Crook and Weston counties by the same date.

Casper’s Knife River was the low bidder at $2 million for chip sealing work on highways in Albany, Carbon and Laramie counties by Oct. 31.

Cannon Builders of Blackfoot, Idaho was the low bidder at $1.6 million for rehabilitation work on three I-80 bridges in the Evanston area. The work will be done on bridges in the eastbound lanes at the State Hospital Road and US 189 interchanges and on the westbound bridge over the Bear River and Union Pacific Railroad tracks. The contract completion date is July 31, 2015.

Cannon also was awarded a $745,000 contract to replace the aging, narrow bridge over the Hams Fork River on Conroy Street in Diamondville. The existing timber deck bridge isn’t wide enough to handle two-way traffic, and the new bridge will have two 12-foot travel lanes. The project is part of a WYDOT program that assists cities, towns and counties with bridge repairs and replacement. The contract completion date is Oct. 31.

Sensors and electronic signs will be installed on WYO 22 near the Idaho border under a $1.5 million contract won by Cache Valley Electric Co. of Salt lake City. The sensors will weigh and classify trucks and trigger the electronic signs to warn the drivers if their vehicles are overweight and not safe to proceed over Teton Pass. The project also will include adding a paved area beside the highway to allow trucks to turn around. The work is scheduled to be done by June 30, 2015.

In addition to awarding contracts, the commission elected Bruce McCormack of Cody as its new chairman, and Clair Anderson of Riverton as vice chairman. McCormack represents Big Horn, Hot Springs, Park and Washakie counties on the commission, and Anderson represents Converse, Fremont and Natrona counties.