Bids for controversial I-15 project differed by 1 point

SALT LAKE CITY — The difference between winning the state's largest ever road construction project came down to a single point.

That and other information was contained in numerous documents released by the Utah Department of Transportation Wednesday as the controversy over whether campaign contributions to Gov. Gary Herbert influenced the awarding of state contracts for the record $1.7 billion project to rebuild I-15 through Utah County.

UDOT Executive Director John Njord told a legislative committee earlier in the day that he made a mistake by paying out $13 million to one of the losing bidders without telling lawmakers or the governor.

The UDOT documents, available online on the agency's website, indicated that the bid team of Provo River Constructors beat out Flatiron/Skanska/Zachary by a score of 91.8 to 90.8 of a possible total of 100 points. A third team came in distant third with 81 points.

The proposals were scored on a weighted system based on the highest value for the project's budget, inconvenience to the driving public and completion of the project by at least 2014.

The final score was impacted most by the winning team's proposal that included a shorter construction period and minimal impact to traffic in the Utah County project zone, according to Tracy Conti, UDOT director of operations and a member of the selection recommendation committee that issued the final report.

"(Flatiron) had a better design … as far as project definition," he told the Deseret News. "Where PRC moved to the forefront was it was a year less time and maintenance of traffic."

"They were keeping the full road open for (the entire time)," he added.

PRC's plan was "far superior" regarding traffic closures on main roads, highway ramps and cross streets, Conti said.

"So we got the benefit of a year quicker and the impact to the public during construction from PRC's traffic control plan is a lot less than (Flatiron)," he said.

Conti said there was no undue influence from any outside political source and the scores of the two top finalists were not changed or altered in any way.

Flatiron, however, protested the bid award in a series of letters to UDOT that resulted in the settlement.