FRANKFORT, Ky. (Dec. 7, 2012) – A design-build team headed by Walsh Construction Co., of Chicago, has been awarded the job of building the Downtown Crossing portion of the Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges Project.
The Walsh team, one of three engineering teams that competed for the largest transportation construction project in Kentucky history, last month submitted the “best value” bid. It included a proposal to complete the project by December 2016 – nearly 19 months ahead of deadline – at a construction cost of $860 million, which would be $90 million below the cabinet’s estimate.
Walsh Construction was selected for the job following a thorough analysis of its proposal by a team of Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) engineers. The cabinet and Walsh Construction can now work toward execution of a contract.
“We congratulate Walsh Construction on their successful bid, and we look forward to seeing the downtown bridge take shape,” said Governor Steve Beshear. “Our citizens have waited more than four decades for this project to become a reality. The fact that this contract saves tens of millions of dollars while significantly accelerating the expected completion of the bridge is a great accomplishment.”
The Downtown Crossing includes a new Interstate 65 bridge, a repaired and reconfigured Kennedy Memorial Bridge, and reconstructed interchanges in downtown Louisville and Jeffersonville, Ind.
It is roughly half of the larger Ohio River Bridges project, which also includes an East End Crossing – a new bridge and approaches between Utica, Ind., and Prospect, Ky., east of Louisville. Indiana is overseeing construction of the East End Crossing.
Walsh Construction plans to begin work on the Downtown Crossing early next year. It has promised “substantial completion” by Dec. 10, 2016 – 18 months and three weeks ahead of KYTC’s deadline of June 30, 2018.
The total cost of the Downtown Crossing will exceed $1 billion, including expenditures for land acquisition, utility relocation, preliminary design and consulting work, construction oversight, toll system development and other necessary items.
As one of the nation’s largest transportation construction projects, the Ohio River Bridges Project will create more than 4,000 construction-related jobs over the next six years. When completed, it will relieve a major bottleneck of the I-65 corridor and open a wide area of the region to further development.
“We look forward to the day, which is now foreseeable, that commuters, commercial carriers and other travelers will finally experience greater cross-river mobility through Louisville and Southern Indiana,” KYTC Secretary Mike Hancock said.
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