Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Officially Awards Bridge Jobs to Walsh Construction

Chicago-based Walsh Construction has been granted approval to contract with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to build its portion of the Ohio River Bridges Project.

Walsh Construction’s $860 million proposal to design and build a new I-65 bridge and rework Spaghetti Junction was named the best of three bids last month.A panel of transportation cabinet engineers reviewed the bid this week and gave it the okay.Now, Walsh can execute a contract with the state and begin work next year. The group says it can complete the project by December 2016 which is one and a half years ahead of schedule.Walsh is also part of the construction group WVB East End Partners that was named Indiana’s best bid to build and manage its portion of the project, a new East End Bridge.The application must receive approval by the state budget committee, the finance authority and Gov. Mitch Daniels, which officials said is likely to be complete by the end of the year. Note: According to Kentucky Transportation Spokesman Chuck Wolfe, the reported bid last month of $971 million was two part and included both the cost of building the project, and also an $80,000 per day fee, which was only used for purposes for the bid scores and is not counted in the final bid proposal.