The colleges are in the midst of letting a flurry of projects to be built during the summer break but the bidding market overall is slowing as the construction season gets into full swing. That doesn't mean bidding has been less competitive. Thursday's PennDOT bid for the I-70 to Route 519 project went to Lane Construction at $118.5 million, some $8 million below Trumbull's $126.9 million bid. There was a spread of more than $30 million between the four bids received. On Tuesday, the low bidder on Canonsburg-Houston's rebid of its $21.3 million sewage treatment plant upgrade came in 13% below the second bid.

Competitive numbers have allowed public owners to accept add alternates to pick up as much as 10% more scope (see Chartiers Valley below for example) for their budgets. What remains to be seen is the impact such tight bidding will have on the change orders and claims that result, which routinely run 5% or more during construction of public projects.