Bids open next month for final phase of Carson bypass

Nevada Department of Transportation officials open bids to construct the final phase of the Carson bypass project on April 2.

The NDOT Board headed by Gov. Brian Sandoval is expected to formally award the project at the May 11 meeting, which will enable the contractor to start work in June.

The final phase consists of paving the freeway from Fairview Drive where it now ends to Highway 395 and U.S. 50 up Spooner Grade. The project is estimated to cost $42 million and is expected to take two construction seasons.

Project Manager Stephen Lani said in an earlier interview that the contractor will have to move about three million cubic yards of dirt to accommodate a base and pavement layer some two feet thick.

The project was speeded up considerably by the decision to build an at-grade intersection where the freeway meets U.S. 395 South instead of an interchange. That decision saved about $20 million. Officials say the interchange will be built later when the cash is available.

Ten companies submitted bids to do the work, four of them from Nevada. They are Q and D Construction, Road and Highway Builders and Sierra Nevada Construction all of Sparks and A&K Earth Movers of Fallon.

The other firms that submitted bids are Ames Construction of Minnesota, Granite Construction and Myers and Sons of California, W.W. Clyde and Wadsworth Brothers both of Utah and Fisher Sand and Gravel of North Dakota.