Federal Highway Administration, 21400 Ridgetop Circle, Sterling, VA 20166

Y -- FLORIDA FOREST HIGHWAY PROJECT FL PFH 13-3(16) SOL DTFH71-98-B-00026 DUE 073198 POC Contact for availabilty of plans: Sue Stanton at 703-285-0010; Contact for technical questions: Gary Brown at 703-285-0075 This project is being procured for competition restricted to those 8(a) program participants served by the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) district office in Jacksonville, FL. Contact the SBA district office to determine eligibility. Sealed bids will be accepted from all eligible business concerns for Florida Forest Highway Project FL PFH 13-3(16) in Liberty and Wakulla Counties, Florida. The project consists of the reconstruction of 12.5 miles of Forest Highway Route 13 from State Route 65 to Forest Development Road 126. Principal items of work and approximate quantities are as follows: Embankment construction: 72,000 CUYD; Aggregate Base: 194,250 SQYD; Aggregate Surface Course: 194,250 SQYD; Matting: 120,000 SQYD; The project is expected to fall within the price range of $1,000,000 to $5,000,000. Invitation for Bids No. DTFH71-98-B-00026 will be issued on or about July 31, 1998. Plans, proposal and contract booklets, standard specifications, and other bid documents, will be available on orafter the issuance date, from the Federal Highway Administration, Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division, 21400 Ridgetop Circle, Sterling, Virginia 20166-6511, telephone: 800-892-8776, at no charge to bidders, subcontractors, and suppliers. Please call 703-285-0006 to verify availability of the bid documents. All requests for bid documents and planholder's lists will be mailed first class. It is strongly recommended that all requests for bid documents and planholder's lists be received 7 calendar days before bid opening to ensure receipt of requested materials. Requests for 'faxing' or overnight mailing will not be accepted. Bids will be opened at 2:00 pm, local time, on September 1, 1998, at the address listed above for the office of the Division Engineer. The following applies for Minority, Women, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises: The Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization has bonding programs to assist Minority, Women-owned, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises to acquire short-term capital and bonding assistance for transportation-related contracts. Loans are available under the DOT Short-Term Lending Program (STLP) at prime interest rates up to $500,000 per contract to provide accounts receivable financing. The DOT bonding assistance program enables firms to apply for a bid, performance and payment bonds up to $1,000,000 per contract. DOT provides an 80 percent guaranty on the bond amount to a surety against losses. For further information and applicable forms concerning STLP and Bonding Assistance Program, please call (800) 532-1169. Posted 07/15/98 (W-SN223719). (0196)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0178 19980717\Y-0003.SOL)