Transportation Commission awards $42 million in highway contracts.

October 22, 2014

Contracts totaling $42.1 million for nine highway projects around the state were awarded by the Wyoming Transportation Commission during its October meeting in Cheyenne.

The new Casper West Belt Loop Road connecting WYO 220 to US 20-26 west of Casper will be paved under a $16.6 million contract awarded to low bidder Ralph L. Wadsworth Construction of Draper, Utah.

Grading and construction of a bridge over the North Platte River for the 7.6-mile road were completed last year. The new road will extend from the area where WYO 220 transitions from two lanes to four southwest of Casper to US 20-26 at its intersection with the Shoshoni Bypass from Interstate 25. The contract completion date is Oct. 31, 2016.

LeGrand Johnson Construction of Logan, Utah, submitted the low bid of $11 million to widen a 3.3-mile section of WYO 789 south of Riverton from two lanes to five lanes. The section includes a bridge over the Little Wind River. The highway section has been carrying growing traffic volumes since the opening of the Wind River Hotel and Casino. The project is scheduled for completion by June 30, 2016.

Reiman Corp. and Subsidiary of Cheyenne was the low bidder at $10 million for a 3-inch asphalt pavement overlay and replacement of three bridges in the westbound lanes of I-80 immediately west of the Nebraska border. The contractor has already begun preliminary work on the project, which has a completion date of June 30, 2016.

Three contracts were awarded for crack sealing to preserve the pavement on highway sections around the state. Highway Improvement Inc. of Sioux Falls, S.D., won the largest with a bid of $2.3 million for crack sealing on highways in Big Horn, Fremont, Hot Springs, Natrona, Park and Washakie counties by May 31. Hardrives Construction of Billings, Mont., won a $470,000 contract for crack sealing on highways in northeast Wyoming by May 31, and Z&Z Seal Coating, also of Billings, won a $464,000 contract for crack sealing on highways in southeast Wyoming by April 30.

Wilson Bros. Construction of Cowley was the winning bidder at $680,000 for slide repair work on the Sheridan Alps Slide on US 14 about 15 miles southeast of Sheridan. The work will include excavating unstable soils, building a shear key and rebuilding the slope using scoria, a lightweight crushed shale. The contract completion date is June 30.

Curb and gutter will be extended for about one-fifth of a mile on the north side of US 20-26 to improve storm drainage on the eastern edge of Shoshoni under a $286,000 contract won by Reiman Corp. The work is scheduled for completion by June 30.

Advanced Electrical Contracting of Sheridan submitted the low bid of $249,000 for replacing 89 overhead signs in the Evanston, Green River, Rock Springs and Jackson areas. The work is scheduled for completion by Oct. 31, 2015.