Michels submits $107M low bid on I-43 overhaul

Michels Corp. this week submitted a $107 million low bid for a project to widen and resurface Interstate 43 between Mequon and Grafton.

The contractor beat out three other companies with its bid for the section of the project, which would rebuild the 9-mile section of I-43 running from Mequon to Grafton. Zenith Tech offered $110.3 million for the job, and Zignego bid $112.6 million. WisDOT counted Mashuda Contractors, of Princeton, as a non-responsive bidder for failing to submit documentation required to claim status as a disadvantaged business enterprise.

The contract is the largest yet bid as part of broader plans to overhaul of I-43 and add two lanes to the now four-lane highway. Construction on the interstate began this year and is expected to wrap up in 2025. State lawmakers enumerated the project in the state’s latest two-year budget.

Although Michels Corp. submitted the low bid for the I-43 work, it has yet to be formally awarded the contract by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

WisDOT latest round of bidding elicited offers for $127 million worth of work on 46 contracts. Some of the noteworthy bids were:

• A $14 single bid from Onalaska-based Mathy Construction for a project on Interstate 94 in Jackson County. The offer came in under WisDOT’s estimates
• A $9.3 million low offer from Janesville-based Rock Road Companies for a project in Columbia County. The bid beat out an offer from Northeast Asphalt, of Greenville, and came within agency estimates
• An $8.9 million low bid from Rock Road Companies on I-43 in Rock County. The offer came in under estimates and beat out bids from two other companies
• An $8.9 million single bid from Monarch Paving Company to resurface a 15-mile stretch of State Highway 37 in Eau Claire County. The lone offer came in over agency estimates of as much as $7 million
• An $8.3 million single bid from Northwoods Paving for a 12-mile resurfacing job in Bayfield County. The bid came in over WisDOT estimates of up to $8 million for the work
• An $8.1 million offer from A-1 Excavating, of Bloomer, for a project on U.S. Highway 63 in Washburn County. The offer beat out bids from three other companies and came within agency estimates
• A $7 million bid from Schofield-based Integrity Grading and Excavating for a series of jobs on U.S. Highway 151 in Madison. The bid beat out three other offers and came within estimates.