WI Dept. of Transportation delays bidding on lift bridge

Daily Reporter (Milwaukee), Jul 10, 2002 by Jeremy Harrell

The state Department of Transportation postponed bidding on the final piece of the Park East Freeway demolition and construction project, but officials said the job's overall timeline won't be affected.

In the last of three phases of the $28 million project, WisDOT planned to open bids Tuesday for the estimated $7 million Knapp Street lift bridge spanning the Milwaukee River. But project leaders issued a late bidding addendum for contractors earlier this month and consequently delayed opening bids for two weeks, said Don Miller, WisDOT bid supervisor.

The combination of the late change to the job and the long Independence Day holiday weekend leading up to the July 9 opening forced WisDOT officials to reconsider the projected bidding timeline, he said. Rather than force the issue and stick to the July 9 bidding date, the agency decided to give builders more time to inspect the revised bridge project, designed by HNTB Corp., Milwaukee, Miller said.

WisDOT officials will open the bids at 10 a.m. July 23 in WisDOT's Madison headquarters, he said.

"(The bridge) has a lot of mechanical and electrical structures," he said. "In the interest of getting better bids, we thought we'd delay it."

Construction on the new bridge was scheduled to start four to six weeks after WisDOT awarded the bid, setting up a projected start date of mid- to late August, said Roberto Gutierrez, WisDOT project supervisor overseeing the construction phase of the Park East job. The agency will probably delay the start of the bridge job for another two weeks, but a few weeks matter little since WisDOT set out a three-year completion schedule for the entire Park East project, he said.

Razing the road

The biggest chunk of the job, a $9.7 million project to tear down the freeway spur and build a six-lane surface boulevard in its place, can continue regardless of the status of the Knapp Street bridge, Gutierrez said. As the bridge project progresses, traffic flow on the new McKinley Boulevard will continue uninterrupted because motorists can use other bridges in the area, he said.

"In the large scheme of the whole thing, the boulevard portion can be completed before the Knapp Street bridge," Gutierrez said.

The demolition portion of the project, which started last month under the guidance of general contractor James Cape & Son Co., Racine, is going according to plan, Gutierrez said. Demolition subcontractor Omega Demolition Corp., Streamwood, Ill., has already taken down pieces of the freeway spur and started in on pavement removal, he said.

"They're proceeding right on schedule," Gutierrez said. "It's a complex project with a lot of utilities, and things are going well."

Opening opportunities

At its monthly bid opening on Tuesday in Madison, WisDOT accepted proposals on more than 30 road and bridge projects. James Peterson Sons Inc., Medford, submitted the low bid for the month's biggest project, the Fond du Lac bypass.

Peterson offered a $10.845 million bid, nosing out Reliance Joint Venture, De Pere, which submitted a $10.922 million proposal, and the Zignego Cos., Waukesha, which submitted a $10.966 million proposal. The job extends Highway 151 around Fond du Lac and is part of WisDOT's multiyear plan to convert the road to a four-lane highway between the Fox Valley and the Iowa border.

In the month's second largest general construction project, Cape appeared to edge out the Zignego Cos. for a job combining concrete and asphalt paving, overpass reconstruction and grading along Interstate 94 in Kenosha County. Cape submitted a $9.316 million proposal, $400,000 less than Zignego's bid.

Lunda Construction Co., Black River Falls, submitted low bids for July's two largest bridge projects. Lunda's $1.98 million proposal to repair bridges in Racine County was $110,000 less than the proposal offered by Zenith Tech Inc., Waukesha. Lunda appeared to net a second job in Wood County with a $1.592 million proposal, this time edging out a $1.665 million bid submitted by Edward Kraemer & Sons Inc., Plain.

D.L. Gasser Construction, Wisconsin Dells, submitted the low bid for the month's biggest asphalt project. The company's $2.495 million proposal was nearly $500,000 less than the other bidding contractor, Payne & Dolan Inc., Waukesha.

WisDOT staff said they plan to review all bids and award contracts by Friday.

Jeremy Harrell can be reached at 608-260-8570.