A study performed by Chmura Economics was featured in a recent Richmond Times-Dispatch article:

Rebuilding 11 bridges on Interstate 95 in Richmond and Henrico County will cost taxpayers about $15 million less than the Virginia Department of Transportation expected.

The Commonwealth Transportation Board awarded a $68 million contract yesterday to Archer Western Contractors of Atlanta to rebuild the aging spans.

"It's going to cost us about $15 million less than we budgeted," said Thomas A. Hawthorne, VDOT's Richmond District administrator.

"Contractors are looking for work," he said, "and we're getting a pattern of reasonably good prices on projects."

Beginning this fall and working at night, Archer Western will start work to replace the spans along 7 miles of I-95 between Lombardy Street in Richmond and Upham Brook in Henrico.

"This project will help ensure that traffic can move safely and efficiently through the commonwealth for decades to come," Gov. Bob McDonnell said in a statement yesterday.

VDOT expects construction to be finished in 2014.

The contractor will do the work in phases. For the first two years, the state said, crews will be working under the bridges, resulting in occasional lane closures and detours.

Beginning in 2012, workers will replace each bridge span by span with new, prefabricated sections. Archer Western has experience with the system, which it used as the contractor on the I-95 James River Bridge reconstruction 10 years ago.

"VDOT is committed to keeping traffic moving through Richmond for the duration of this project," Hawthorne said.

While replacing bridge spans, the contractor will close lanes and shift traffic on I-95, but the work will be done between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. to minimize traffic tie-ups.

During the overnight construction, VDOT will keep open an emergency vehicle lane and one travel lane in each direction.

The bridges should be in full operation before morning rush hour, and daytime travelers on I-95 should have all lanes of travel available.

Up to 160,000 vehicles a day use this section of I-95, VDOT said, and about 60,000 vehicles travel the stretch during the 8 p.m.-6 a.m. period.

VDOT will use electronic message boards, highway advisory radio, the 511 system, local media and the Internet to keep travelers informed about planned activities and traffic impacts.

According to an economic-impact study by Chmura Economics and Analytics, the project will generate a one-time economic impact of up to $166 million for Richmond and Henrico as project contractors and their subcontractors patronize area businesses.

The project also will bring about 150 jobs each year to the region as a direct result of the construction, as well as an additional 100 jobs annually as an economic ripple effect.

"This project will complete the rehabilitation of all the mainline bridges on the old Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike," which opened more than 50 years ago, Hawthorne said. "We should get another 50 to 70 years out of these bridges with this work."

In that time, VDOT's maintenance cost savings on the bridges could reach nearly $10 million, the economic-impact study said.