The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) has opened the third round of bids from contractors for highway stimulus projects approved by the SCDOT Commission.

South Carolina has been allotted a total of $463 million for highway projects through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, signed into law by President Barack Obama on Feb. 17.

SCDOT opened bids on May 12 for 17 contracts for the following work to be done in South Carolina:

·                     60 roads to be resurfaced in several counties including Georgetown, Horry, Beaufort, Jasper, Lexington, Anderson, Pickens, Greenville, Florence, Marion, Williamsburg.

·                    New thermoplastic pavement markers to be installed on portions of  I-20 in Richland County, I-77 in Fairfield and Richland counties, I-20 in Aiken County, and I-95 in Colleton County.

·                    Installation of upgraded signal head lights using LEDs (light-emitting diodes) in various counties of Congressional Districts 2.

·                    Bridge replacement in Charleston County.

·                    Intersection improvement in Darlington County.

·                    Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Extension of a communication cable on I-77, I-26, and Fish Hatchery Road in Lexington County.

For a complete list of projects from the May 12 letting, visit: http://www.scdot-transfer.org/scdotphotos/May12letting.htm

According to preliminary results, the apparent winning bids for the 17 contracts totaled $43.7 million. This is 7 percent below estimates from SCDOT engineers. SCDOT had estimated the projects at $46.8 million.

“I am pleased at how quickly SCDOT staff is moving to jump start these stimulus projects to help create jobs and boost our economy,” said South Carolina Secretary of Transportation H.B. “Buck” Limehouse Jr. "For the third time, bids have come in lower than expected. This may allow us to stretch the stimulus dollars further and complete more projects than anticipated.”

A bid review process is under way for the 17 contracts. This process is standard practice and takes place after every bid letting at SCDOT. Once the bids are finalized, SCDOT will send award letters to the contractors and execute the contracts.

This is the third round of bids received for stimulus projects.

 On April 14, SCDOT opened bids for 11 contracts totaling $51.3 million. This was 21 percent below estimates from SCDOT engineers. On April 28, SCDOT opened bids for the 14 contracts totaling $24.6 million. This was 10 percent below estimates from SCDOT engineers. SCDOT had estimated the projects at $27.4 million.

In the first three lettings, SCDOT has received bids for highway stimulus projects totaling approximately $120 million. The lettings combined will result in 168 roads resurfaced, nine new bridges, new interstate highway pavement markers, interstate rehabilitation, intersection improvements and upgraded signal head lights using LEDs.

 Additional bid lettings for stimulus projects are planned for later this spring and summer. Information on ARRA is available at SCDOT’s web site, www.scdot.org.

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