The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) awarded 44 single-bid contracts totaling $27,762,776 during their May bid letting. In total, those single-bid awards exceeded the cabinet engineer’s estimates by $901,808.

Forty-two of the single-bid awards were asphalt-related. The asphalt-related bids ranged between 83.6% - 121.1% of KYTC’s estimates.

Here is an overview of the May asphalt-related single bid awards by company:

• Mountain Enterprises: 8 single-bid contracts totaling $10,044,245. Each of the eight awards exceeded KYTC’s projections for the projects’ costs, adding up to $777,933 over the cabinet engineer’s estimates.

• Hinkle Contracting: 8 single-bid contracts totaling $4,367,029. Hinkle — with their asphalt plant in Bourbon County — secured a $1,229,628 award for an asphalt resurfacing project in Harrison County, a county adjacent to Bourbon; the company, however, declined to submit bids for projects in Fayette County, which is also adjacent to Bourbon.

• Scotty’s Contracting: 5 single-bid contracts totaling $3,415,758. The company’s winning bids ranged between 93.5% - 109.4% of KYTC’s estimates, adding up to $157,752 of costs in excess of the engineer’s projections.

• Jim Smith Contracting: 6 single-bid contracts totaling $2,389,186. Four of the six were for asphalt resurfacing projects in McCracken County totaling $1,054,438.

• L-M Asphalt Partners: 6 single-bid contracts totaling $1,873,861. The company appears to have a local monopoly in Clay County where it won four single-bid awards that added up to $1,574,494.

• H.G. Mays Corp.: 3 single-bid awards totaling $1,132,762. All three of the company’s winning bids came in under KYTC’s estimates.

• Murray Paving: 2 single-bid awards totaling $850,513. Both of the company’s winning bids came in under KYTC’s estimates.

• The Allen Company: 2 single bid awards totaling $785,300. Both awards were for asphalt resurfacing in Jackson County.

The following road contractors secured one single-bid asphalt-related contract in May: Lexington Quarry Co. ($1,454,193) & Rogers Group ($661,397).

KYTC rejected ten single-bid offers from Kentucky’s highway industry. Those unsuccessful bids ranged between 111.4% to 130.3% of the cabinet’s internal estimates.

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NOTE: Extensive efforts are made to ensure the data from KYTC’s publicly available information are accurately entered into this spreadsheet. I welcome feedback from the cabinet, the industry or anyone else if there are mistakes. I can be contacted at amcneill@freedomkentucky.com.