Bid 25% under estimate: DeAtley lands Airport Road job

Clarkston-based DeAtley construction was awarded the contract to rebuild Whitman County’s Colfax Airport Road after bids were opened by county commissioners Monday morning.

DeAtley was the lowest of five bidders to rebuild the 3.09-mile road, quoting a price of $2,599,431, which was $897,478 less than the engineer’s estimate of $3,496,899.

“That’s much cheaper than I would have guessed,” said Public Works Director Mark Storey.

The rebuild project will widen the road, create shoulders, eliminate some of the road’s tight curves and better angle its banking.

Also bidding the job were Scarsella Bros., Seattle, $2,830,024.65; Goodfellow Bros., Portland, $3,199,422; Apollo, Inc., Kennewick, $3,557,563.62, and Shamrock Paving, Airway Heights, $3,696,673.50.

Construction could begin as soon as next month, said Storey. Work this year will entail preliminary construction to build the road base.

The county has decided to let the subgrade settle over the winter before paving it next spring. A similar schedule was used to rebuild the Almota Road, and Storey said it made for a smoother surface.

Colfax Airport Road is a major thoroughfare for Washington State University traffic looking to bypass Colfax. Students and game day fans use it to bypass Colfax on their way from Highway 26 to Pullman.

Design of the improvements to Colfax Airport Road began in 2008, but the county had a lengthy process in acquiring land for the road right-of-way.

“Maybe that bid will make up for our right-of-way acquisition, that extra cost,” Commissioner Greg Partch commented to Storey after Monday’s bid opening.

The county had been authorized for up to $2.93 million by the state’s County Road Administrative Board for the project. With the lower-than-anticipated contract, the grant sum will be reduced under the 80/20 format used by the state. Most of CRAB fund derives from state gas tax money.

County and federal funds will pay the remaining 20 percent of the cost.