A Walsh Construction and Kokosing Construction joint venture, named the Walsh Kokosing Design-Build Team, has been selected as the design-build contractor for the Brent Spence Bridge corridor project. According to ENR, it's a $3.1 billion contract award. Both Kokosing and Walsh are Midwest based, with Kokosing located in Westerville, Ohio, and Walsh in Chicago.
Read more about this major contract award here, here, and here.
I understand from the Ohio side of things, but I figure Kokosing must have greased a lot of palms in Kentucky to get that job. How does Walsh fit in? Are they some kind of preferred contractor in Kentucky like Kokosing is in Ohio?
Both Walsh and Kokosing are major contractors who have expertise and experience to tackle a major project like the Brent Spence Bridge Project. Neither company is a preferred contractor for a particular state or area. First and foremost is the ability to do the contracted job. And with the Brent Spence Bridge Project, the number of companies that can "do" the job, build that bridge, is not particularly large. Far from it. There's probably only 20 to 30 companies nationwide that have the ability to take on such a large project.
Because the Spence Bridge Project is such a major undertaking, Walsh and Kokosing decided to team up to form a joint venture. It's a plus Kokosing is located in Ohio, but if they had been headquartered in Tennessee or Kentucky, it would have made no difference in the contract award. Again, it's the expertise and experience of Walsh and Kokosing that led to the contract award. Typically, way before a contract is awarded, there's a step in the process called the RFQ (Request for Qualifications) in which companies have to put forward documentation to prove they have the ability to do the job. After that, often there's the RFP (Request for Proposals), where companies put forward how the intend to do the project, who will be the consulting and design engineers, etc., as well as cost projections.
As an example, here's an official ODOT announcement on how they intended to proceed in awarding the Brent Spence Bridge Project contract.
All I know is what I see, and most of the jobs here in Ohio, at least in this part of the state, are either Kokosing or Shelly and Sands. Both Ohio companies. I know what official policy is, but I'm skeptical that they don't get all these jobs because they are Ohio companies and they are preferred. Nothing wrong with that by the way, I like keeping money in state. Walsh is what surprises me.
Walsh Construction shouldn't be a surprise. It's Chicago-based and has extensive expertise and experience building major bridges. According to its website, the company is ranked by
Engineering News-Record as the
largest bridge builder in the United States.
Kokosing is Ohio's largest construction contractor. They do a lot of road and bridge projects in Ohio and in neighboring states. That's why you see their signs a lot. In Indiana, for example, Kokosing built a
major bridge over wetlands and the Patoka River as part of the I-69 corridor project. They were also tapped for the
emergency repairs on the Brent Spence Bridge after the crash and fire.
It's possible the Brent Spence Bridge Project was just a little too big for Kokosing to tackle alone. But, by joining with Walsh, a very strong, experienced, well capitalized team was formed. And, in the end, it's probably best for all parties involved, particularly the states of Ohio and Kentucky who want this bridge built, and, more importantly, built right.
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Topic: I-71/I-75 Brent Spence Bridge Replacement (Read 57373 times)