Contractor selected for next construction phase of US 20 project in Lincoln County, April 29

A contractor has been selected for the next phase of construction of the US 20 project In Lincoln County, where three previous phases of construction (1, 2, & 2A) were completed on-budget and on-schedule since ODOT took control of the project in May, 2012.  Scarsella Brothers, Inc., of Kent, Washington was awarded the low-bid contract of $40.9 million for Phase 3 construction of the US 20 PME: UPRR to Eddyville project, which will get underway in May. The project remains on-track to put traffic on the new roadway in 2016.  Phase 3 is a two-year phase of construction on the unfinished segment of a new 5.5 mile section of highway that will bypass 10 miles of current US 20, west of Eddyville.  In 2014 and 2015, Phase 3 construction will include:  • Blasting and placement of 2.5 million cubic yards of earth and rock to form the final alignment of the unfinished segment; • Construction of approximately 20 miles of horizontal drains to remove subsurface water that causes landslide activity; • Construction of rock buttresses to mitigate landslide effects; • Construction of 415 ground anchors to mitigate landslide effects.  More construction phases to come – Later this spring, a contract will be awarded for Phase 3A construction which will remove more than 100,000 cubic yards of earth from a nearby site to make way for a mitigation site to improve habitat for fish and other wildlife.  Traffic is expected to be switched to the new segment in 2016 after Phase 4 construction, which will include final roadway base construction and paving, landscaping, guardrail, signs, wildlife crossing; and any needed final landslide mitigation.  Phase 5 will improve habitat for fish, birds, and other wildlife in up to nine areas on or near the project site.