A contract with a base bid of more than $71 million was awarded Monday by the Oklahoma Transportation Commission, the largest construction agreement in its history. Work on the project that involves the reconstruction of two interchanges along Interstate 35 in Norman is expected to begin in early 2015.
The commission voted unanimously on Monday to approve the contract, which includes the Lindsey Street and State Highway 9 intersections with I-35. The winning bid for $71.1 million was submitted by Tulsa-based Sherwood Construction Co., Inc. The project is expected to take two-and-a-half years to complete.
Before this contract, the highest the department had ever approved was on a Tulsa Interstate 244 project at about $67 million.
Although the base contract is for $71 million, Sherwood can earn financial incentives totaling more than $1.7 million by completing phases of the project ahead of schedule.
Part of the project will be dedicated to widening the four-lane portion of I-35 from just south of Main Street to just before the Canadian River bridge to six lanes - three in each direction. This will eliminate traffic bottlenecking in that area, Oklahoma Department of TransportationDirector Mike Patterson said.
Division Engineer Paul Rachel said the reason the project is so expensive is because they are dealing with two interchanges that are only about a half-mile apart and working on them separately would cause conflict.
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