The Wisconsin Assembly approved bills on Thursday that would change Wisconsin Department of Transportation policies to set new limits on single-bid contracts and sanction the design-build delivery method on road projects.

Tagged with: design-build Joe Sanfelippo roads state Legislature Wisconsin Department of Transportation WisDOT

Lawmakers have aired out a handful of bills that could shake up how the Wisconsin Department of Transportation awards bids and delivers projects, as part of a multi-pronged effort to reform the department following a funding increase.

Tagged with: design-build Hoffman Construction Jim Hoffman Joe Sanfelippo Joint Finance Committee WisDOT

Wisconsin Republicans say a proposed gas tax is dead-on-arrival and have introduced a set of transportation bills calling for a funding alternative and a number of department overhauls meant to cajole skeptical lawmakers into assenting to a revenue increase.

Tagged with: design-build gas tax Gov. Tony Evers Joe Sanfelippo roads state Legislature Tom Tiffany Wisconsin Department of Transportation

Republican lawmakers on Wednesday began seeking sponsors for about a dozen transportation-related bills that could include an alternative to a gas-tax increase and allow for the use of the design-build system on highway projects.

Tagged with: design-build gas tax Gov. Tony Evers Joe Sanfelippo state Legislature vehicle-registration fees Wisconsin Department of Transportation

Various county officials are calling for a change to Wisconsin's bidding rules to allow design-build contractors to compete for more work — a tweak they say could save taxpayers money.

Tagged with: design-build Joe Sanfelippo Wisconsin Counties Association

If the state of Wisconsin was considering legislation to spend its scarce transportation dollars to pay contractors to build projects “without having to face any competition” in infrastructure “beauty contests” that only reward out-of-state “industry giants,” as described by The Daily Reporter in a recent editorial, then the state’s taxpayers should be very alarmed.

Tagged with: design-bid-build design-build

When a trades group representing mostly nonunion contractors and the state’s biggest construction union are united in their opposition to a legislative proposal, it should give lawmakers pause.

Tagged with: design-build editorial

A proposal to let the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and local governments use project-delivery methods other than design-bid-build has given rise to an unusual alignment between two groups that are otherwise usually at odds with each other.

Tagged with: Associated Builders & Contractors of Wisconsin design-build International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 John Mielke Terry McGowan Wisconsin Department of Transportation

A group of Republican legislators are circulating a bill that would impose sweeping reforms on the state Department of Transportation.

Tagged with: construction manager/general contractor design-build Gov. Scott Walker prevailing wages Robin Vos Scott Fitzgerald state budget Wisconsin Department of Transportation

“Builder” is derived from the Old English word “byldan,” meaning dwelling. For millennia, builders provided shelter from the elements. But as mankind multiplied and prospered, buildings came to provide benefits extending far beyond the shelter needed for survival. Man-made structures, taking in everything from European cathedrals to the Great Wall of China, came to stand among the world's wonders.

Tagged with: design-build