The estimated $3.5 billion Interstate 10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project has a new project team in place, and testing is set to begin soon on the concrete that will be used in the structure’s pilings.

But plenty of major questions remain in a project that has been under consideration for years and is poised to be Alabama’s most expensive road construction project ever. The biggest looming question is the project’s final price tag, and the approval of a loan needed to pay for it.

The Alabama Department of Transportation, in a news release Tuesday, announced that Kiewit Massman Traylor (KMT) will be the joint venture team overseeing the entire scope of the new bridge and 7.5-mile Bayway construction.

“This is an important and positive development for the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project,” said Ed Austin, chief engineer with ALDOT. “Kiewit Massman Traylor and their team are hitting the ground running as they take over this portion of the project.”

Consolidating project

The announcement comes after ALDOT cut off negotiations in March with the Mobile Bayway Constructors (MBC) team, which was in talks with the state agency over the design and construction of the Bayway portion of the project. KMT had long been the team assigned to handle the cable-stayed bridge portion of the project that will be built south of downtown Mobile.

KMT is already planning to do some work. According to ALDOT, the team has developed a pile load test program to evaluate the strength and stability of the concrete foundation piles that will support the new structure.

Testing will be conducted at six locations along the planned bridge route. The program will test 24-inch square precast concrete piles to ensure they meet the necessary standards for the project.

The work is expected to begin this month and last until August. Work activity will take place from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., but it’s not expected to impact traffic along the existing I-10 Bayway.

Costs loom

The development comes as ALDOT moves ahead with the hopes of finalizing the project’s cost – called the acceptable guaranteed maximum price – and finalizing the financing needed to pay for it.

A major loan application process has been ongoing for some time with the federal government.

ALDOT hopes to utilize the federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA), which offers low-interest loans to pay for the project. The state plans to finance 49% of the entire project through TIFIA loans, which would amount to around $1.75 billion under the current estimates.

The project got a major lift last July after a $550 million grant was awarded through former President Joe Biden’s administration under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bridge Investment Program. The money will go directly toward a project that, overall, includes the construction of a new six-lane, 215-foot-tall cable-stay bridge in downtown Mobile and a new elevated six-lane Bayway that extends a little over 7 miles to Daphne.

The project also includes the demolition of the existing Bayway. A new, more elevated Bayway will be constructed so it can withstand future storm surges and powerful hurricanes.

The project also has other federal and state dollars set aside. In 2019, a $125 million federal grant was secured through former U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby’s office, which will go directly toward the project. The state is dedicating $250 million toward the project as well.

ALDOT officials are also working through a framework plan established in late 2021 by the Metropolitan Planning Organizations in Mobile and the Eastern Shore of Baldwin County. That framework establishes a $2.50 toll for a one-way trip over the new infrastructure only, or a $40 monthly pass for unlimited trips via an ALGO pass.

ALDOT’s goal is to have a groundbreaking at some point this year.

Both organizations also want the project completed at once — and not done over segments throughout a lengthy time period. They also want the project to be publicly owned and not open to a private ownership scenario.

A public-private partnership (P3) scenario was among the reasons why the project nearly crumbled in 2019, after Gov. Kay Ivey declared the project “dead.” Her declaration happened after officials in Baldwin County voted to remove the entire I-10 project from their short-term plans over concerns of the P3 arrangement to build it, as well as a controversial toll plan and outrage generated at the time on social media.

The project has long been sought after by officials because of the congestion that often builds on the existing I-10 Bayway and at the Wallace Tunnel, especially during peak summer travel seasons.

The current I-10 infrastructure was designed to carry 35,000 cars and trucks each day; there are now nearly 100,000 cars and trucks crossing the Mobile Bay at peak times.