24-1-132. Contracts for county, city and town bridge work; bids; exception.

(a) The board of county commissioners of any county or governing body of any city or town shall cause to be prepared comprehensive plans and specifications for the construction of any bridge on any dedicated and maintained road in its jurisdiction.

(b) As used in this section a bridge is a structure, including supports, erected over a depression or an obstruction, such as water, highway or railway, having a track or passageway for carrying traffic or other moving loads and having an opening measured along the center of the roadway of more than twenty (20) feet between undercopings of abutments, or spring lines of arches, or extreme ends of openings for multiple barrel box culverts. It may include multiple pipes, where the clear distance between openings is less than one-half (1/2) of the smaller contiguous opening.

(c) When any bridge is to be constructed, which includes either new construction or reconstruction of major load carrying bridge components, upon any road in a county's, city's or town's jurisdiction, the estimated cost of which shall exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00), the construction work shall be competitively bid and the bridge work constructed by contract. No contract shall be divided for the purpose of avoiding competitive bidding. The construction work may be described in the published call for bids by stating general requirements. Detailed specifications shall be available to prospective bidders at the county commissioner's office or offices of the governing body of the city or town.

(d) All bridges to be constructed shall be designed by a professional engineer who holds a valid license granted by the Wyoming board of professional engineers and professional land surveyors.

(e) The board of county commissioners of any county or governing body of any city or town shall cause notices of the contract to be let to be published for two (2) consecutive weeks in a newspaper having general circulation within the state and to take any other means available to achieve as wide a notice as possible, but in no case shall any letting of the contract be held within fifteen (15) days of the last published notice.

(f) The board of county commissioners, or governing body of the city or town shall award any contract to the lowest responsible bidder. The county commissioners or governing body reserves the right to reject any bid and to waive irregularities and informalities in the bidding. No final payment upon any contract shall be made until the bridge is examined and approved by the professional engineer supervising the construction of the bridge and the payment is approved by the county commissioners or governing body of the city or town or their designees. Within ninety (90) days of the bridge being opened to traffic the board of county commissioners or governing body of the city or town shall notify and provide the design, plans, specifications and load rating for the bridge to the chief engineer of the department of transportation so that the department may comply with national bridge inspection standards.

(g) Whenever an emergency arises requiring expenditure of funds for the repair or rebuilding of bridges or approaches to bridges the board of county commissioners or governing body of any city or town may enter into contract for any building or rebuilding of bridges or approaches without advertising for the letting of any contract. An emergency is an occasion requiring repair or rebuilding of a bridge or a portion of a bridge when, on short notice, the bridge has become unsafe or impassable due to events which are beyond the control of the county, city or town.