For generations of Americans, the interstate system has been an icon representing infrastructural achievement. However, over the decades, the network of roadways has faced continuous use and declining upkeep and maintenance.

After decades, the skeletal fiber of infrastructure needs immediate attention and investment. Finally, there is funding to begin the process of upgrading the country’s infrastructure, and projects to refurbish, expand, and repair roadways are being launched rapidly.

The Hinckley Bridge Replacement project in Pine County, Minnesota, calls for replacement and repair of multiple bridges along a stretch of Interstate 35. The work will include the rehabilitation of aging infrastructure, improvements to bridge safety, and modernization of bridge design. The construction phase has a projected cost of $25.6 million, which will involve many other facets designed to extend the useful life of roadways.

California – Regents at the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF) approved a $4.3 billion budget, scope, and design of a new hospital at Parnassus Heights on May 19.

When it opens in 2030, the new 15-story hospital will incorporate the latest innovations in technology, including advanced diagnostics and robotics, to drive new therapies and treatments.

The new hospital at Helen Diller Medical Center will address UCSF’s capacity constraints, which regularly result in an overcrowded emergency department and inability to accept patients seeking to be transferred to UCSF from other hospitals.

By building a new hospital, UCSF will increase its overall inpatient bed capacity by 37 percent from 499 beds to 682 beds and expand the Emergency Department by nearly 65 percent.

UCSF also will renovate parts of the existing Moffitt and Long hospitals at Parnassus Heights, and seismically retrofit Moffit to function as one hospital that will connect on several floors.

Ohio – After years of planning by their two states, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine jointly applied for nearly $2 billion in federal funding on May 24 to make improvements to the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor that runs through Northern Kentucky and the city of Cincinnati.

Kentucky and Ohio are seeking $1.66 billion in federal grant funding through the Multimodal Projects Discretionary Grant. The grant request represents approximately 60 percent of the remaining $2.77 billion project cost. Each state will also allocate significant state and other federal dollars toward the project. The states will split the cost of the new bridge 50/50, and each state will be responsible for the needed work on its side of the border.

The project will reconstruct approximately 5 miles of Interstates 71 and 75 in Kentucky and 1 mile of I-75 in Ohio and will include construction of a new companion bridge over the Ohio River, just to the west of the existing Brent Spence Bridge. The project limits are from south of the Dixie Highway Interchange in Kentucky to Linn Street in Ohio with the interstate widened by one additional lane in each direction throughout the corridor.

This additional capacity will alleviate congestion, improve safety, and open this nationally significant freight corridor. Current plans also call for the separation of local and interstate traffic, which will improve access to local businesses and communities in Covington and Cincinnati.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) and the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) recently announced that engineering work on the project will move forward as the federal government considers the application. KYTC and ODOT also will continue to work on acquiring property needed to construct the project.

Earlier this month, state transportation authorities in Ohio and Kentucky released a request for letters of interest for design-build services for the design and construction of the corridor project.

ODOT officials followed that solicitation by requesting proposals from consultants to support contract administration, public outreach, project management, and control tasks necessary to manage the eventual design-build project. The selected consultant will be co-managed by a joint team within ODOT and KYTC.

The project team will provide opportunities in the coming weeks for all firms interested in this historic project to ask questions, provide input to the process, and meet with ODOT and KYTC personnel to learn more about the details.

Oregon – Voters in the Beaverton School District passed a $723 million bond referendum on May 17 that will fund $397 million in building modernization projects, $120 million in deferred maintenance, $44 million in technology purchases, $40 million in seismic upgrades, and $27 million in security initiatives.

Tentatively set to open in 2027, the complete rebuild of Beaverton High School is one of the school construction projects supported by the bond’s passage. The estimated $253 million 292,000-square-foot building will open with a 1,500-student capacity.

Once the new school is completed, the old one will be torn down and replaced with a parking lot or other programming. The original part of the school dates to 1916. Over the years, more than a dozen separate additions have been made to Beaverton High School, resulting in an assortment of electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems and related inefficiencies. Rebuilding the high school will eliminate about $53 million of deferred maintenance at the school.

The district also will rebuild Raleigh Hills K-8 School, which dates to 1927. Up to 790 students will be served by the 95,000-square-foot building tentatively set to open in 2026 at a projected cost of $55 million.

In 2019, a third-party consultant evaluated the physical condition of all district facilities and then calculated the deferred maintenance cost for each facility. The district’s total 10-year deferred maintenance cost was determined to be $610.1 million, which also included seismic improvements.

Deferred maintenance needs funded by the bond include:

The replacement cost for school-issued devices that the district purchased early in the pandemic is roughly $27.4 million. The bond will fund two rounds of new laptops at the high school level and one round of new laptops at the elementary and middle school levels over seven years.

More than $16 million worth of network and infrastructure upgrades are funded, as well as extra devices and parts, to improve district connectivity and cybersecurity preparedness.

Missouri – The state’s Department of Mental Health (DMH) released a request for information (RFI) to collect feedback on procuring an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system.

DMH supports 15 state-operated inpatient facilities through the Division of Behavioral Health (DBH) and the Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD). Both divisions directly serve over 1,700 service recipients in the state facilities. DMH is looking to procure an EHR system for those 15 state-operated facilities.

The department currently uses more than 44 IT applications and paper-based workflows to perform programmatic and administrative functions, which presents numerous challenges for DMH staff, such as inefficient processes and the lack of access to timely, accurate, and comprehensive health-care data to provide quality, person-centered, holistic direct care and support services to service recipients.

Some of the minimum required business functions for an EHR system are:

RFI submissions are due by 2 p.m. CDT June 8.

Georgia – DeKalb County’s Water Infrastructure Renewal Program will receive $284 million from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to upgrade the county’s aging drinking water distribution system.

Funding will come from the EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program.

The county’s sewer system is one of the largest and oldest in the Southeast U.S. The system spans more than 2,600 miles of sewer lines, and a large portion of the system is over 50 years old.

Due to sewer spills, the county operated under a consent decree with the EPA from 2012 to 2020. The agreement resulted in federal oversight and rehabilitation programs by the county to address mandated capacity, management, operation, and maintenance programs.

The new program includes replacing water pipes in the distribution system to address water main breaks. This new infrastructure will reduce water loss to protect public health and safety and improve customer service. The program also is upgrading the disinfection system, adding backup power, and replacing water storage tanks to increase capacity.

Construction is expected to be completed in 2028.

Florida – Jacksonville International Airport is planning a $300 million expansion to Concourse B that will provide six additional gates and two ground loading positions for smaller aircraft.

Airport officials said the project will allow for space for a new security checkpoint with 10 lanes, including six Checkpoint Property Screening System (CPSS) lanes and two traditional lanes to screen more passengers per hour. If all requested components are implemented, the checkpoint would increase its throughput rate by a factor of five.

The airport will contribute more than $50.3 million from its cash reserves, while the Federal Aviation Administration is expected to award $45 million in grants and other financial assistance. The Florida Department of Transportation has committed almost $40.75 million to the project.

According to the airport’s 2020 master plan, associated improvements in the first of two expansion phases include:

The second phase of the concourse expansion would allow for up to seven additional aircraft gates.

California – The city of San Jose will host a pre-proposal meeting at 1 p.m. PDT June 7 for firms interested in developing a transit solution that is separated from mixed traffic to connect Mineta San José International Airport with Diridon Station near the city’s downtown.

Over the next 15 years, Diridon Station will undergo significant capital improvements to increase its capacity to serve the region. It is projected to be the busiest transit hub in the western U.S. by 2040.

San Jose is seeking firms to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain an approximately 3- to 4-mile dedicated guideway upon which an electrically propelled, automated driverless transit technology solution would be installed to operate between the airport’s Terminal B and Diridon Station.

City officials are considering several options for delivering the project, including a public-private partnership (P3), to provide the transit technology, develop a business model including securing private funding, and design a dedicated transit system that avoids street-level crossings.

This is the latest milestone in a project that previously released a request for information (RFI) in 2019. That request asked firms to discuss potential solutions that could provide “grade-separated mass transit infrastructure and operations at significantly lower cost than traditional transit projects.”

The RFI received 23 responses that discussed a range of innovative approaches including personal rapid transit, mixed-flow autonomous vehicles, hyperloop, monorails, and magnetic levitation vehicles.

Maryland – The city of Hagerstown Light Department is gathering vendor feedback through a request for information (RFI) on the implementation of an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) project to assist the city in studying, comparing, and evaluating technologies and offerings.

Within approximately 9 square miles of service territory, primarily urban development, in the city of Hagerstown, Maryland, the Light Department provides utility electric service to approximately 18,000 customers. In some instances, electric revenue meters are installed in basements, designated electrical rooms, and other locations without line-of-sight.

A complete AMI solution will include all communication components, infrastructure, meter data management (MDM), and other components required for the operation of what is collectively known as an AMI system.

The Light Department prefers a mesh network type installation as opposed to a point-to-point type. It intends to use the information gathered to prepare a competitive request for proposals (RFP) for purchase of an AMI system after review.

It is the department’s desire to gather meter data remotely, disconnect/reconnect, aggregate data for outage management use, and record data. The department does not want to control customer-owned household equipment or activate other demand response capabilities.

The deadline for RFI submissions is 2 p.m. EDT June 13.

Michigan – Trustees at Okemos Public Schools approved the scope of a proposed $275 million bond election for November 8, subject to state approval before the district may call the election.

The school board selected options for a bond package that would include funding for construction of three new, expanded buildings to replace Cornell Elementary School for $35.7 million and Chippewa and Kinawa middle schools for $97.6 million and $69.24 million, respectively.

Funding for almost $26.4 million in facility needs would be requested, as would $13.4 million for technology purchases to replace student and staff devices.

Proposed building improvements would expand Okemos High School’s cafeteria, kitchen, and performing arts space and create room for Hiawatha Elementary School to provide additional classroom and student breakout learning spaces.

More than $9.4 million would go toward high school athletics, field replacement, and equipment purchases, and $3.82 million would help relocate the Meridian Senior Center to the existing Kinawa or Cornell buildings and the district’s administration, operations, and technology departments to the existing Kinawa building.

Florida – Milton officials are renewing their efforts to revitalize the city’s downtown waterfront by leveraging a public-private partnership (P3) to transform the area into a mixed-use development.

Responses to a previous solicitation resulted in two developers expressing interest, but a partnership failed to materialize, leading the city to reissue a request for proposals (RFP).

The city has been assembling riverfront property for redevelopment on the west bank of the Blackwater River. The objective of the P3 is to partner with a developer to revitalize the former marina, provide for residential development, and stimulate investment in underutilized land to create a mixed-use destination.

Milton’s property available for development is approximately 7.9 acres along Broad Street, at the northern edge of the city limits. It is anticipated that the preferred mixed-use project will consist of residential (1-, 2-, 3-bedroom upper floor apartments) with potential for restaurant/entertainment, marina, retail and commercial uses, and associated parking on the ground floor.

The properties in the scope of the proposed development and the surrounding properties are within the city’s brownfield area.

West Virginia – U.S. senators from West Virginia are pushing the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to review a request from the International Yeager Airport to expedite taxiway construction.

They asked that the FAA grant a categorical exclusion so that the airport can proceed immediately for the taxiway relocation and the first phase of the terminal project. The airport has proposed relocating Taxiway A onto existing paved surface to bring the airport back into regulation.

The airport is currently conducting an environmental review for its Runway Safety Improvement Project and greater terminal improvement project.

Relocating the airport’s main Taxiway A and moving airport gates and concourse are required for its terminal upgrade project to be eligible for a portion of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding.

The airport, which is more than 70 years old, has applied for a piece of the $5 billion available through the historic law, intended to address aging infrastructure at airports across the country.

Potential improvements include:

The proposed terminal project is predicted to create 856 permanent full-time jobs, with an economic output of $424 million from construction alone.

Colorado – The city of Fort Collins issued a request for information (RFI) for telecommunications services for its police services organization.

Fort Collins is planning, evaluating, and deploying increased multi-carrier capability to ensure improved resilience and diversity in its telecommunications services for the Fort Collins Police Services (FCPS) organization.

FCPS would like to fully explore the capabilities of each telecommunications carrier in its area of operation to ensure it is taking full advantage of the combined capabilities available to the department.

The city is seeking partners to deliver a highly available, secure, and cost-effective mobile device solution. RFI submissions are due by 3 p.m. local time June 8.

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Senate confirmed Ret. Rear Admiral Ann Phillips as the 20th administrator of the Maritime Administration (MARAD). Phillips served most recently as special assistant to the Virginia governor for coastal adaptation and protection. Before that, she served nearly 31 years on active duty and has extensive experience operating with multi-national maritime forces.

Missouri – The president of Missouri State University announced Zora Mulligan as executive vice president and Brad Bodenhausen as vice president for community and global affairs. Mulligan is the commissioner of higher education for the state of Missouri. Before that, she served as chief of staff for the University of Missouri system and as executive director for the Missouri Community College Association. Bodenhausen will replace Dr. Jim Baker as vice president for community and global partnerships when he retires on June 30. Bodenhausen is currently associate vice president of international education and training. Before that, he served as director of Missouri State’s International Leadership and Training Center.

New York – The Geneva City Council selected Amie Hendrix as its preferred candidate to become the city’s next city manager. Subject to a formal confirmation vote on June 1, the Geneva City Council plans to name Hendrix to the position, effective June 21. She most recently served as the deputy county administrator for Tompkins County. Prior to that, she was the county’s director of youth services.

Georgia – Athens-Clarke County Unified Government named Ryan Solchenberger as transit department director, effective June 1. He will succeed Butch McDuffie who retired in April 2021. Solchenberger most recently served as director of the Transportation Services Division of the South Kitsap School District in Kitsap County, Washington.

North Carolina – The Catawba County board of commissioners appointed Mary Furtado as county manager, effective July 1, following the retirement of County Manager Mick Berry. Furtado currently serves as the deputy county manager. Prior to joining Catawba County, she worked in various roles for Sarasota County, most recently as executive director of strategic operations.

Mary Scott Nabers, Publisher

Devin Monk, Editor

Government Contracting Pipeline, a publication of Strategic Partnerships, Inc., is a free, weekly newsletter detailing important happenings nationwide and the premier source for federal, state, and local government news and contracting opportunities.