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Washington-based construction firm Kiewit-General-Manson proposed a low bid last Wednesday to replace the aging state route 520 bridge in Seattle. A really low bid; enough to buy a and still be within the state’s budget for the bridge project. While the Washington Department of Transportation won’t name which out of the three possible construction firms got the contract for a few weeks, Kiewit-General is currently building pontoons for the project. Something (overall austerity in state budgets) tells me it will get it.

The received earlier this month, ending 14 years of planning and analysis. The bridge connects Seattle to neighboring Medina and Bellevue. According to the , construction will begin on Lake Washington in 2012, with the goal to open the bridge to traffic in 2014. The design-build contract covers the following:

• The construction of a wider six-lane bridge with transit and bike/pedestrian ways
• Towing 33 concrete pontoon constructed in Gray’s Harbor to Lake Washington
• Building an additional 44 supplemental concrete pontoons and 58 anchors
• Building a connection to the eastside highway and building a new maintenance facility and dock on  Lake Washington.