VDOT taking bids on projects for first wave of stimulus money today

The Virginia Department of Transportation will advertise about $176 million in paving and bridge projects for construction bids today, the first of the federal highway stimulus work to hit the street in Virginia.

An additional $75 million in highway jobs will likely follow next week.

"We're going to be moving them as quickly as we can," said Malcolm T. Kerley, VDOT 's chief engineer.

The first flush of highway projects includes spending $110 million to repave 436 miles of potholed interstate and primary roadways and $66 million to rehabilitate 119 worn-out small bridges, Kerley said.

Virginia is due to receive a total of $694 million under the federal economic stimulus package.

VDOT wants to spend about $250 million in stimulus funds on the state's beat-up roads and bridges, on thoroughfares serving fast-growing military bases and on long-planned construction projects by June 30.

The $110 million in paving work represents a 33 percent increase in the amount of paving work the state had planned for the fiscal year starting July 1, according to state Transportation Secretary Pierce R. Homer.

In the Richmond region, the projects include the repaving of 9.8 miles of Interstate 295 in Henrico County between Interstate 64 and U.S. 33, as well as 46.2 miles of U.S. 360 and U.S. 460 in Dinwiddie and Amelia counties.

Paving contractors will have three weeks to respond to the call for bids on the road jobs, Kerley said.

The $66 million for bridge and culvert rehabilitation is a 50 percent increase in next year's planned work, Homer said in a presentation to state legislators.

The bridge projects are being bundled into seven regionally based design-build contracts, Kerley said. Contractors will have three months to get their bids in for the bridge work.

"We're glad to see that VDOT is getting the work out on the street quickly," said Jeffrey C. Southard with the Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance, a highway industry group.

"We're in a very competitive environment with struggling companies hungry for work," Southard said. "Construction season is beginning, and we hope VDOT will move quickly to take advantage of those factors."

Said Stewart Schwartz with the Coalition for Smarter Growth: "We're encouraged that VDOT is focused on fix-it-first projects such as bridge repair."

"The shocking information is that there's a $3.5 billion backlog in deficient bridges in the commonwealth," Schwartz said. "The $60 million [to] $70 million doesn't come close to meeting the need."

Contact Peter Bacqué at (804) 649-6813 or .