KAILUA-KONA — Bids to widen 2.8 miles of Mamalahoa Highway in Waimea were opened Thursday with the lowest coming in nearly $6 million less than Hawaii County figured the project would cost.
Kiewit Infrastructure West Co., which is based in Omaha, Nebraska with offices in Honolulu, submitted the apparent low bid for the project at $19.11 million, followed by five others. The highest bid for the project came in at $24.10 million.
Barett Otani, Hawaii County Department of Public Works spokesman, said the county has identified Kiewit as the lowest bidder, but must complete approvals for acceptance of the bid to award the contract. It will likely be about a month, pending any appeals, before that can take place.
Generally, he said, once a contract is awarded, the contractor has 180 days to commence work on the project. If all goes as planned, Otani said Waimea could see the work begin in February. It would finish sometime in summer/early fall 2019.
The much-needed widening project for the area has been in the works for years, with the project included in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, which identifies projects slated for federal funding, since 2011, according to state records. It consists of widening the Mamalahoa Highway at 18 major intersections, with left-turn pockets and drainage improvements.
Hawaii County had anticipated the project would cost about $25 million to complete. About 80 percent of the cost will be covered by Federal Highways Administration funds while the county matches with 20 percent. Gov. David Ige and the state Department of Transportation announced last month that $19.5 million was committed for the project.
Though the apparent low bid came in below the federal funds allocated, the county will still have to pay its 20 percent portion, Otani said. Based upon the $19.1 million low bid submitted Thursday by Kiewit, the county will have to chip in about $3.8 million, more than $1 million less than the $5 million officials anticipated they county would spend on the project in September.
“That’s great,” Otani said. “It saves us money.”
Kiewit Infrastructure declined comment Friday per its company policy.