Kiewit Infrastructure West faces increased scrutiny of its performance on the Interstate 205-Abernethy Bridge project after two safety incidents that state officials deemed “serious,” along with escalating costs and delays.

Kiewit received a negative performance evaluation in May, said Vidal Francis, an Oregon Department of Transportation program manager.

On a scale of 50 to -50, with a baseline of zero, Kiewit scored a -36, Francis told Oregon Transportation Commission members at a meeting last week.

“The contractor’s monitored performance in this review period has not been great,” Francis said.

Two safety incidents drew particular concern from ODOT. In one, a work truck backed over a worker, resulting in hospitalization. In another, a boat driver needed rescue after striking a piling and going into the Willamette River.

The incidents were “pretty egregious” and could have been prevented, Francis said.

“We are aware of the concerns raised regarding work on the I-205 Abernethy Bridge project, including the discussion during the Oregon Transportation Commission meeting,” Kiewit spokeswoman Teresa Shada wrote in an email to the 91��Ƶ. “Safety is fundamental to how we operate, and we take any incident involving members of the public, our employees, subcontractors or project partners seriously. Kiewit will continue to work with ODOT to address and resolve changes to the work and deliver the project in accordance with our contract.”

Kiewit will have to submit a corrective plan and hold mandatory meetings with ODOT staff, Francis said.

“They need to come back to us with some of the corrective plans or even safety plans, if you will, as to how they cannot allow this to happen again,” he said.

It was unclear if the safety incidents involved Kiewit directly, or a subcontractor. But the prime contractor is ultimately responsible, Francis said.

“They have ultimate control over the entire project itself,” he said.

The project is more than a year behind schedule, with estimated completion dates ranging from September 2027 to January 2028. Kiewit’s contract ends on Oct. 21, 2026, and ODOT estimates an additional 316 to 440 contract days.

The project is approximately 78 percent complete, Francis said.

The cost of the project’s first phase is estimated at more than $700 million, according to ODOT. Total costs have risen to more than $800 million — more than triple the original estimate of $248 million. The bridge replacement effort is ODOT’s largest project in decades.

Kiewit’s performance may have long-term effects, according to Francis.

“This also could impact their ability to bid on future projects with the agency,” he said.

In other updates from the June 11 OTC meeting:

Interstate Bridge costs

Annual expenditures for the Interstate Bridge replacement project are expected to reach $216.6 million in 2027, and peak at $806 million in 2031, according to a preliminary finance plan presented to commissioners. In the 2028-29 biennium, costs are projected to hit $950 million. ODOT’s share would be half, or about $475 million.

The first phase of the project to replace the bridge and upgrade Interstate 5 in Portland and Southwest Washington is projected to cost $5.68 billion.

The project budget has limited design work, said Travis Brouwer, ODOT’s deputy director.

“We are only designing light rail to the waterfront,” he said. “The city of Vancouver, for example, has been asking us to continue the design into downtown. There is simply no money for that.”

ODOT’s budget

Transportation officials expect to present plans next year to cut $200 million from ODOT’s budget. The commission got its first look at a preliminary budget that would need to be approved by the Oregon Legislature and signed into law by the governor.

The preliminary budget gives commissioners the chance to tell the public how cuts will result in reduced services such as miles of chip seal, Commissioner Phil Chang said.

“What we can do is highlight what this proposal costs us,” he said.

Tolls

Commissioners discussed potential tolling levels on the Interstate Bridge. Chairwoman Julie Brown said she favors keeping tolls low while limiting exemptions and subsidies. Administrative costs often make exemptions and subsidies not worthwhile, she said.

“I’ve also been a firm believer, if you use it, you should pay,” she said.

Tolls were historically used to pay for projects, including the second span of the Interstate Bridge in the 1960s. But now generations of Oregon drivers have become accustomed to paying few tolls, if any.

“As Americans, as Oregonians, we’re going to have to start understanding that there’s a cost to all of this stuff,” Brown said. “These things were built for us, and we’ve enjoyed them over the years and haven’t had to pay for them, because the costs of them were years ago. Now, we’re going to have to make hard choices.”

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Oregon and Washington state leaders on Tuesday released an updated price tag for the Interstate Bridge replacement project that fell closely in line with documents unearthed months ago by critics of the long-planned expansion.

The total cost estimate for the bridge and 5-mile corridor of Interstate 5 rose to $13.5 billion to $15.2 billion, with a “most likely cost” of $14.4 billion, according to a joint statement from state highway officials. That price tag lands within highway officials’ earlier estimated range of $12.2 billion to $17.7 billion.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson doubled down on their support for the project despite rising costs.

“We need a new bridge and it’s time to start building it,” Kotek expressed in the joint statement.

By focusing on “a core set of projects,” she stated, the states can deliver a “modern, earthquake-ready bridge, with no bridge lifts, less traffic congestion, extended light rail and better options for people walking and biking.”

Tuesday’s cost estimates were the first released by the two states since 2022, when program officials gauged the cost at $5 billion to $7.5 billion. Since then, construction costs have run hotter than overall inflation, mostly because of materials and labor and fluctuating tariffs.

The Interstate Bridge replacement (IBR) program team, made up of Oregon and Washington transportation departments, plans to hire a contractor in 2027 to complete design work. The bridge is regarded as at risk of collapse in a major earthquake.

“The bridge must, and will be replaced,” Ferguson stated. “Delaying a major project has never made costs go down. We’ve achieved important progress in the past year, and we will continue to move forward by focusing on the core mission of replacing the bridge.”

Highway officials and state leaders refocused Tuesday on the more modest goal of replacing the two bridge spans, connecting them to I-5 and extending light rail service to Vancouver. Those aspects would total $7.65 billion, according to the joint statement.

Light-rail service may be needed to access some federal funding, but some elected officials and residents in Vancouver have protested bringing Portland-based light rail to Southwest Washington.

Joe Cortright, an economist and director of Portland-based City Observatory who has been a persistent critic of the project, said the state transportation departments were misleading constituents by focusing on half of the project.

“The high-level bridge requires elevated freeways on both the Oregon and Washington sides of the river, with new interchanges elevated high into the air to reach the new roadway,” Cortright stated Tuesday. “ODOT and WSDOT have intentionally designed this so once you start, you must build everything. The reality is they’ll never stop with Phase I. Start construction and you’re signing up for $15 billion and 20 years of construction hell.”

The IBR program currently has $5.5 billion in available state and federal funds.

“This funding is sufficient to continue the states’ momentum and begin the construction process while working toward further improvements to the larger corridor on both sides of the bridge,” the team stated Tuesday.

Highway officials are pursuing an additional $1 billion in funding through the Federal Transit Administration‘s Capital Investment Grants program.

“Managing our risks, including schedule, is imperative,” ODOT interim Director Lisa Sumption stated. “We are committed to moving this program into construction and completing this critical infrastructure for our region and the economy.”

Contractors and union representatives have touted the project, saying it would bring huge economic benefits in wages and other spending.

“We’re pleased to see this part of this moving forward now, and it’s time to get this project built,” said Mike Salsgiver, executive director of the Associated General Contractors‘ Oregon-Columbia chapter.

He lamented that it’s taken so long to replace the aging bridge.

“It also demonstrates the cost of the delay,” he said. “If we’d done this 15 years ago, it probably would have cost less than $3 billion.”

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The proposed Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge replacement project has received federal approval to advance to final design and construction permitting.

The $1.12 billion Columbia River bridge project spanning Oregon and Washington received a record of decision on Tuesday from the Federal Highway Administration, closing out National Environmental Policy Act obligations.

“What it means is that we have finalized the NEPA process and the project can move forward into final design right away and construction,” Michael Shannon, bridge replacement project director, said in an interview on Wednesday.

Kiewit Corp., the project’s design-build contractor, is on track to hit the 60 percent design level next summer, with a final set of construction plans expected to be ready in spring 2027, Shannon said.

If anticipated funding falls into place, construction would follow in October 2027, Shannon said.

“That is dependent on securing the final federal funding for the project,” he said.

The project team is awaiting a decision on Bridge Investment Program funds. Project officials have requested $530 million from the program, which is administered by the Federal Highway Administration.

The total price tag includes planning and construction and encompasses about $180 million in contingency funding, Shannon said.

This bridge replacement project appears to be moving smoothly toward construction while other major infrastructure plans have been stymied by delayed or canceled funding.

As part of major legislation, President Donald Trump earlier this year rescinded $412.5 million for the Interstate 5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project. Other projects across the nation have likewise not received expected funding.

Shannon said he had no concerns about the Trump administration’s willingness to fund the Hood River–White Salmon Interstate Bridge replacement.

“We got notification that we met the screening criteria for projects under the new administration,” he said.

The project was “highly recommended,” Shannon said. “The project (team) has done everything it can to be positioned to accept award,” he added.

The Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge proposal meets a key threshold, Shannon said: Requested federal funding is less than 50 percent of the project’s total cost. Oregon and Washington have each agreed to chip in $125 million.

The new bridge would replace the existing span, which opened in December 1924. The new bridge would sit slightly west of the current bridge and include two 12-foot vehicle lanes, two 8-foot shoulders and a 12-foot shared-use path for bicycles and pedestrians. Vehicles would be tolled.

The proposed bridge’s 90-foot vertical clearance has been preliminarily approved by the U.S. Coast Guard.

The replacement bridge “would meet current design standards to be seismically sound under a 1,000-year seismic event and operational under a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake,” the record of decision states.

Indeed, seismic concerns were a driving force behind the project. The current bridge sits on a sandy, silty layer that is vulnerable to liquefaction.

“It is more susceptible to earthquake than we had thought before,” Shannon said.

The bridge project exemplifies the public-sector work that has buoyed the construction industry while interest rates remain high, private lenders exercise caution, and some types of commercial real estate suffer from oversupply and high vacancy rates.

“Infrastructure funding has been a major source of stability for the construction industry over the past few years,” Macrina Wilkins, a researcher for the Associated General Contractors of America, wrote in an email on Wednesday. “Bridge, highway and other projects supported by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (and related federal programs) have kept contractors busy and work flowing into the pipeline, even as concerns about labor shortages and economic uncertainty persisted.”

Contractors are “eager to undertake” projects like the Hood River–White Salmon Interstate Bridge replacement “especially in the face of softer private demand,” Wilkins added.

Still, Wilkins stated, contractors should prepare for a leveling off in public infrastructure work: Highway and street spending fell 0.9 percent nationally in August, compared to a year earlier.

“Infrastructure investments are still supporting the industry, just not at the unusually elevated pace we saw earlier in the (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) rollout,” Wilkins wrote.

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Multnomah County is seeking a $447 million Bridge Investment Program grant from the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) to help pay for construction of the Burnside Bridge replacement.

The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the grant proposal on Thursday. The proposal is due by Aug. 1.

If the county were to receive the grant, funds would need to be obligated by Sept. 30, 2029, and used by Sept. 30, 2034. The money would be allocated by USDOT from Fiscal Year 2028 through 2033.

A 50 percent match is required for the grant, which would consist of $421 million in bonding secured by the county’s vehicle registration fee, $20 million from the state via HB 5030 (passed during the 2023 legislative session) and $7 million from other federal sources (a $5 million RAISE planning grant and a $2 million congressional appropriation).

According to the project’s website, the budget is not to exceed $895 million.

Large bridge projects with total eligible costs greater than $100 million are candidates for Bridge Investment Program grants, a county staff report states. Approximately $2.45 billion is available in Fiscal Year 2026 and will be awarded on a competitive basis for bridge replacement, rehabilitation and preservation projects.

Megan Neill, engineering services manager for Multnomah County, said the grant would go a long way toward funding project construction. The money would be used to pay contractors.

The effort to replace the Burnside Bridge began in 2016. The environmental review phase was completed in January 2024, and the design phase began in September 2023. If the team were to secure full funding, construction could begin as early as 2028.

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