Kentucky Transportation Briefs Lead Contractors for Bridges Project

Kentucky’s Transportation Cabinet will hold its first meeting Thursday for contractors looking to lead the state's $1.3 billion portion of the Ohio River Bridges Project.Over 500 professionals have signed up to attend, but the state is asking for only three to bid for the project next fall.“The first step is, we want to get statement qualifications for teams and shortlist those teams to three. Those three teams then will compete in a best value process to get the job," said project manager Gary Valentine.Thursday’s meeting is a must for contractors who want to design and build Kentucky’s portion of the project, which includes a new I-65 bridge and a rebuilt Spaghetti Junction, Valentine said.“Once we short list the teams which we intend to do by the middle of April, we will put out a request for proposals. And that request for proposals will basically be the contract requirements. It’ll be what we expect the teams to be bidding on," he said.Those three lead teams will write up their proposals and submit them next fall, which is also when the state will pick the winner. The teams not granted the contract will be paid $1.5 million each for use of their plans. This will encourage a competitive bidding process, said Valentine.Indiana plans on holding a similar meeting for contractors on Friday.