A joint venture formed by N.A. Degerstrom Inc., of Spokane Valley, and Acme Concrete Paving Inc., of Spokane, has been awarded the contract to reconstruct more than a mile of the Interstate-90 viaduct in downtown Spokane.


The entity, called The Degerstrom-Acme Joint Venture, was formed specifically to seek the project, for which it bid about $8.8 million. The contract calls for replacing the elevated road surface, including at least two inches depth of concrete, between the Maple and Division street exits, and the project will take two summers to complete, says Al Gilson, regional spokesman for the Washington state Department of Transportation.


Gilson says the joint ventures bid was more than 20 percent below DOT estimates for the project.


This years work will include reconstruction of the surface of the eastbound lanes, and will begin about May 15 and be completed about September 15, he says. The westbound lanes surface will be reconstructed during 2007.


The freeway will remain open at all times during construction, Gilson says. This summer, while the eastbound lanes are being reconstructed, eastbound traffic will be diverted to the northern part of the viaduct, which carries the westbound lanes. There, four narrow lanestwo in each directionwill be configured where the current three westbound lanes are.


Because of the narrower laneswhich will be 10.5 feet wide rather than the normal 12 feetthe speed limit through the construction zone will be lowered to 45 miles per hour, Gilson says.


Also, a number of on-ramps and off-ramps will be closed during construction this summer, including the Walnut Street and Monroe Street eastbound on-ramps, the Division Street eastbound off-ramp, the Lincoln Street westbound off-ramp, and the Monroe-Jefferson and Browne street westbound on-ramps. The DOT has posted recommended driving alternatives for those closures on a Web site, located at www. downtownfreewayfix.net/


ramp-closures.html.