See Wisconsin road contractor awards since November

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The top-10 contractors awarded by the state since November have been in line with previous years. However, roadbuilders said the actual transportation revenues and construction let levels over the past decade tell a different story.

Between November 2023 and April 2024, the top-10 contractors were awarded more than $558 million combined, data from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation showed. The lettings were for various road contracts across the state.

• Kraemer North America LLC: $135.2 million
• Monarch Paving Co.: $61.7 million
• Michels Road & Stone Inc.: $57.2 million
• Payne + Dolan Inc.: $54.1 million
• Zignego Co. Inc.: $53 million
• Northeast Asphalt Inc.: $52.5 million
• James Peterson Sons Inc.: $40.6 million
• Vinton Construction Co.: $36 million
• Rock Road Cos. Inc.: $34.7 million
• Mathy Construction Co.: $32.3 million

For the slice of months, both WisDOT and the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association have been consistent with awards in the timeframe for the last several years.

However, the association said its numbers paint a mixed picture for Wisconsin road construction. According to association data, WisDOT let levels have been relatively flat over the past decade and materials such as asphalt, concrete and excavation have been lower the last few years.

Lettings for fiscal year 2024 were estimated to be $1.29 billion, association data showed. That’s the lowest yearly lettings have been since 2021 at $1.25 billion. 2022 and 2023 both had lettings of around $1.34 billion, data added.

Steve Baas, head of the WTBA, said letting totals over the last six months had good news and bad news with post-pandemic inflation as a backdrop.

“On the positive side, we have been able to weather enormous spikes in construction inflation and continue to fund the state transportation program at a level amount,” Baas said. “That is not a small accomplishment. On the negative side, because of inflation those let dollars are buying less actual product when it comes to Wisconsin roads,” he added.

The funding from the state and federal governments have helped avoid massive cuts to the transportation program that would have otherwise been reduced due to inflationary pressures, Baas said.

The WTBA director said the numbers pointed to the continued need for sustainable transportation revenue and warned of a fiscal cliff starting in 2025 if one-time state funding in the past budget isn’t replaced.

Almost all the contractors listed are WTBA members, except for Plain-based Kraemer North America. In April, the company was awarded $130.5 million to work on the Wisconsin River bridges project in Columbia County.

Payne + Dolan and Northeast Asphalt are part of the Walbec Group. Monarch Paving Co. is a subsidiary of Mathy Construction Co.