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Who Wants to Build the New Brent Spence Bridge?

ODOT and KYTC said proposals require a "progressive design build contract" for both the Brent Spence Bridge and its new companion bridge.

By Madeline Fening on Wed, Feb 22, 2023 at 9:20 am

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Photo: facebook.com/BrentSpenceInfo

ODOT and KYTC said the builder's contract requires a "progressive design build" for the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project.

Ohio and Kentucky are officially accepting design and construction proposals for the new $3.6 billion Brent Spence Bridge corridor project.

On Feb. 21, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) announced they will be accepting proposals to provide construction and design services on the project through the end of March. The design-build team will be selected sometime in May.

Proposals would apply to six of the eight miles of the total corridor project – five miles of the I-71/I-75 corridor in Kentucky and one mile of I-75 in Ohio. The two northernmost sections of the corridor in Ohio will be worked on by separate designers.

The release from ODOT and KYTC said the contract requires a "progressive design build contract" for both bridges, which is awarded based on qualifications, the best overall approach, and value.

“The progressive design-build process is the right delivery approach based on the complexity of this project,” said KYTC secretary Jim Gray in the news release. “Working in collaboration with the contractor during the design process will bring more innovative design ideas to the table and improve the project overall.”

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According to ODOT, groundbreaking for the Brent Spence Bridge corridor project is expected to take place sometime in late 2023, but construction won't begin in earnest until 2024. The overall completion goal is set for 2029.

The American Transportation Research Institute named the Brent Spence Bridge the No. 2 bottleneck for freight trucks in the entire nation. That's the same ranking as in 2021 and three spots higher than in 2020. A website for the bridge's 2017 maintenance project states that the structure, built in 1963, was originally designed to carry 80,000-100,000 vehicles per day, but traffic in recent years has doubled to 160,000-180,000 vehicles each day.