The Great Recession has enabled the California Department of Transportation to save approximately $2.4 billion in construction costs for major projects since 2006 due to competition and some bids coming in up to 40% less than estimates, says Kris Kuhl, supervising transportation engineer and official chief for contract awards and services at Caltrans. Overall, Kuhl says that so far this fiscal year, project bids are averaging 33.8% under estimates.
The savings, obviously, means that Caltrans can push for more transportation construction starts, Kuhl adds. �Depending on the nature of the work, we also are seeing a record number of bidders,� he says. �The large projects will have a smaller bidding pool, but some of the other smaller, repair and maintenance projects can get as many as 30 bidders.�