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Construction bid letting - General process overview

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation's (WisDOT) process for bidding on highway construction projects is outlined in the State of Wisconsin, Department of Transportation, Standard Specifications for Highway and Structure Construction.

• All bidders of prospective highway construction projects are "prequalified" by the department to ensure that the bidder has "competency and responsibility to perform the work."
• Advertisements for projects
• Bidders submit a sealed bid for a prospective highway construction project to the department.
• All highway construction projects have a public bid opening; all sealed bids are opened upon which they are read aloud publicly. Upon opening and reading the prospective bids, the department proceeds through a process of awarding and executing the highway construction contract.
• The award process involves comparison and analysis of the bids in order to look for irregularities and to ensure the eligibility of the bidder.
• Upon completion of this process the contract is awarded to the "lowest responsible bidder."
• The highway construction contract is then executed by the Governor upon receipt of the contract, the contract bond and all other department-required forms.

Questions about the content of this page:
Deanna Goebel, deanna.goebel@dot.wi.gov
Last modified: September 19, 2011