by T.A. DeFeo
The Georgia Department of Transportation said it awarded seven projects valued at more than $104.7 million in August.
However, the awards list the agency provided indicates that the state only awarded about $12.1 million in projects. A GDOT spokesman said officials deferred a pair of widening and reconstruction projects worth roughly $93 million and expect to award them later.
State officials said three bridge rehabilitation contracts totaling more than $6.2 million represent 51.2% of the awarded funds. The largest allocation, roughly $4.1 million, went to Comanche Construction of Georgia to correct settlement issues and other work on six bridges in Carroll, Cherokee, Floyd and Whitfield Counties.
The second largest contract, a roughly $2.9 million bridge construction project awarded to Williams Construction Company, includes nearly 0.3 miles of bridge construction and approaches on U.S. Highway 27 ALT over Coleman Creek in Meriwether County. The bridge construction project represents 23.7% of the money awarded.
Construction projects represent 13.4% of the awarded dollars, or more than $1.6 million. Another roughly $1 million, or 8.3%, of the awarded funds were for a widening and reconstruction project.
The remaining 3.1% went to safety projects, including signing and pavement marking upgrades at railroad crossings in Atkinson, Brooks, Cook, Lanier and Lowndes counties.
One project is on U.S. Highway 441/State Route 89/State Route 31 in Atkinson County, while the other is on Atlanta Highway in Forsyth County.
So far, in fiscal 2021, which began July 1, the state said it has awarded $146 million.
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T.A. DeFeo is a contributor to The Center Square.
