Four lanes of traffic are moving again on the I-10 bridge in Pascagoula, MS, just 20 days after a barge battered the eastbound span during Hurricane Katrina, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta announced today. Damage from Katrina had closed the eastbound span, causing traffic backups with only one lane open in each direction on the westbound span.
Columbia, MS-based T.L. Wallace Construction won the $5.2-million repair contract and restored two-lane traffic in each direction well ahead of schedule. As an incentive for expediency, a $1 million bonus was given, DOT said.
The Dept. of Transportation included incentive-based provisions in highway repair contracts, which allowed the state of Mississippi to award a I-10 bridge contract that included a $100,000 per-day incentive to complete the work ahead of schedule.
DOT announced last month it had made available a $5-million down payment to Mississippi from FHWA’s emergency relief program, which will help reimburse the state for damages to I-10, U.S. 90 and other federally funded roads and bridges damaged by recent storms.
