DOT&PF reopens bidding for Seward Highway drilling near milepost 58

Alaska's transportation department is asking contractors again to drill test holes along the Seward Highway, after an earlier bid drew no award. Sealed bids are due by 2 p.m. Aug. 28 at the Central Region office in Anchorage.

The state-funded work covers about 13 on-road test holes between milepost 58 and milepost 60. The drilling will supply geotechnical design data for the Seward Highway Safety Improvements 2025 project.

The solicitation, an invitation to bid (ITB) labeled CSHWY01359-A, is titled "Seward Highway Safety Improvements 2025 Drilling Services Rebid." The rebid label means the state issued the same drilling work once before. The notice does not explain why that earlier solicitation drew no award.

Bids go to 4111 Aviation Avenue in Anchorage.

Separately, a different and much larger Seward Highway project has drawn scrutiny this summer, on a stretch of road far from the drilling site. Anchorage's transportation advisory committee has asked the AMATS Policy Committee to reverse its vote adding the Safer Seward Highway project, estimated at more than $1.5 billion, to the region's long-range transportation plan. The committee argues the design, which includes a median up to 250 feet wide and cliff excavations up to 400 vertical feet, is oversized for the safety problem it aims to fix. That project runs between mileposts 98.5 and 118, closer to Anchorage, and is not tied to the milepost 58 to 60 drilling contract.