June 23, 2007 -  Four companies submitted bids for building the second bridge to Oak Island, and the N.C. Department of Transportation opened the bids Tuesday. One of the bids, from Barnhill Construction Co. Inc, came in just 8.9 percent higher than the engineer’s estimated costs. The DOT estimate for the project is $33,589,397.15, and Barnhill’s bid came in at $36,567,994.87.
“Certainly it’s good news,” state board of transportation member Lanny Wilson said Tuesday. The three other bids were as follows: W.C. English Inc. at $39,310,820.59, PLT Construction Co. Inc. at $40,845,560.24 and S.T. Wooten Corp. at $41,208,936.44.  The other bids were 17 percent, 21.6 and 22.7 percent higher than the estimated costs, respectively.
NCDOT staff will review the bids over the next week or so, Wilson explained, making sure the bids meet legal requirements and the board will review the bids at its next meeting in July.
Generally, the DOT board can award a contract and not seek additional bids for a project if at least one of the bids is less than ten percent higher than the engineer’s estimates. The project has been delayed for a number of reasons thus far, including a lack of funding and the need to sort out mineral rights in property needed for environmental mitigation. Bids were supposed to be reviewed May 15. By Lisa P Stites