The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department a $78-million contract to a Little Rock company to replace a 7.1-mile stretch of I-540 in Fort Smith, said the state Highway Commission on Friday.
The department awarded three contracts worth more than $12 million for road repair and improvements in Benton and Washington counties.
The road work is part of the second Interstate Rehabilitation Program that will be paid for by a bond that was approved by voters in November 2011.
In Sebastian and Crawford counties, Kiewit Infrastructure of Little Rock was awarded a $78.8-million contract to replace 7.1 miles of I-540 in Fort Smith. The work will begin at Highway 29 and proceed north to I-40.
The department said it hopes work can begin within a month and should be completed in the Fall of 2016.
In Benton and Washington counties, the Arkansas State Highway Commission announced a $9.2-million contract to APAC-Central of Fayetteville to pave 4.7 miles of the Highway 62 Prairie Grove bypass and east and west connections. Nationwide Construction Group of Chesterfield, Mich., was awarded $1.3 million to install a cable median barrier on 4.9 miles of Highway 71 east of Bentonville, and Eaton Excavating of Harrison was awarded $1.4 million for installing a cable barrier on 10.5 miles of Highway 412 between Siloam Springs and Tontitown.
The commission said it expected all three projects to being within a month, with the cable barriers expected to be finished in the summer while the Prairie Grove Bypass work is expected to be finished in late 2014.
