Five Things You Can Tell Your Neighbors About Safe & Sound

With recent concerns about the condition of the nation’s bridge infrastructure, the Safe & Sound Bridge Improvement Plan has been thrust into the national spotlight and is even being touted as an innovative idea that may become a national model.

Don’t be surprised if your friends and neighbors ask you about it.  If they do, here are five facts you can share:

• Safe & Sound is being developed as a 30-year design-build-finance-maintain contract that will improve 802 bridges statewide under one contract. All of the bridges would have to be improved by Dec. 31, 2012 and then maintained in good condition for at least 25 years, at which point MoDOT would reassume maintenance responsibility.

• Most of the 802 bridges in Safe & Sound are structurally deficient and represent most of the approximately 1,100 structurally deficient bridges on the Missouri state system. The majority of the bridges are also small- to medium-sized bridges in rural areas.

• Safe & Sound was designed to spur innovation from the proposers. They have complete flexibility in determining whether the individual bridge improvements will be rehabilitations or replacements and how they will be designed and constructed. The unsuccessful proposer will be paid a $2 million stipend so that MoDOT will be allowed to incorporate their good ideas into the final contract awarded to the best-value proposer.

• Technical proposals are due from the two competing teams on Oct. 25, with the cost portions of the proposals being due Nov. 5. MoDOT will then determine if the proposals are responsive and affordable. If awarded, MoDOT intends to use FHWA’s Highway Bridge Program funds as the primary funding source for making payments for the next 25 years following the completion of the project.

• MoDOT has also received approval from the U.S. DOT for the successful proposer to use up to $700 million in Private Activity Bonds as the primary financing source for the initial improvement phase. The tax-free nature of these bonds has the potential to save over $70 million on the project.