Roadway designers and plan reviewers should consult this article when determining and verifying bid item quantities for roadway projects. It lists common bid items, along with comments that can be used to develop and check bid item quantities contained in Summary Sheets, the section(s) of the Kentucky Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction (Standard Specifications) the bid item is described in, the associated Standard Drawing(s), and other sources (e.g., KYTC Highway Design Guidance Manual, Design Memos, Special Notes/Special Provisions, Sepias, Construction Memos).

The full definitions for terms included in this article (listed below) can be found in the HKP Glossary.

• Bid Item
• Estimate
• Incidental

List of Abbreviations:

• CUYD: Cubic Yard
• EA: Each
• LB: Pound
• LF: Linear Feet
• LS: Lump Sum
• GAL: Gallon
• MGAL: Million Gallons
• SQFT: Square Feet
• SQYD: Square Yard
• DOLL: Dollar

Project estimates are developed throughout project development to monitor and control costs. Bottom-up estimates involve determining the cost of individual work items and summing them to generate an estimate for the entire project. Accurately identifying necessary bid items and correctly estimating their quantities is essential for staying within the project budget. Inaccurate estimates, misinterpretation of what is included (or excluded) in a bid item, or the omission of a bid item can potentially impact project costs and the construction schedule.

This article presents an overview of bid items that are common on Kentucky roadway projects. Readers should keep in mind that it does not address every possible bid item they could encounter on a project. An accompanying Excel workbook summarizes information on bid items (Bid Item Workbook). Individual worksheets in the Excel workbook cover the bid items for a single work group (e.g., earthwork and removal items, asphalt pavements, maintenance of traffic). The table below describes content found on each worksheet.

Standard Drawings change over time through the process of issuing a Sepia Drawing before adopting the new drawing into the standard set. Make sure to review the current Standard Drawings and Sepia Drawings for the most current versions of drawings listed in the workbook.

The Standard Specifications and Special Notes also evolve over time. Visit KYTC’s websites to review the latest versions of the Standard Specifications, Supplemental Specifications, and Special Notes/Special Provisions.

A project’s construction plans contain several summary sheets that catalogue, describe, and quantify bid items needed for a project to be biddable and buildable (e.g., bid item descriptions, quantities).

When a project is advertised for construction contractor services, bid items from different summary sheets are combined into a list of proposal bid items that prospective contractors bid on. If a project spans multiple counties, the roadway construction plan set must include for each county separate summary sheets for bid items and quantities. Summary sheets often developed and reviewed by the roadway designer are described below.

General Summary Bid items not summarized in other summary sheets are found in the general summary. These include, but are not limited to:

• Roadway excavation/embankment in place
• Clearing and Grubbing
• Curbing
• Median barriers
• Guardrail, End treatments, and Crash cushions
• Geotextiles
• Right of way monumentation
• Maintenance of traffic items
• Erosion control items
• Striping and pavement marking items
• Mobilization/demobilization
• Removal items
• Channel lining
• Fencing

Each bid item is listed along with a description of the item and the unit of measurement. Quantities for each bid item are listed by each roadway that is being constructed as part of the project (e.g., Mainline, US 60, KY 1819, Ramp 1, Frontage Road A). The general summary also contains notes that apply to specific bid items, summarizes earthwork quantities, and can reference plan sheets that contain additional information (e.g., see Sheet R10).

Paving Areas and Paving Summary Paving-related bid items and the roadway paving areas are quantified in this summary. Bid items listed in this summary include: 

• Aggregate base (DGA and/or CSB)
• Asphalt (surface, base, binder) and/or concrete pavement
• Leveling and wedging
• Asphalt pavement milling and texturing
• Asphalt tack coat
• Chemical stabilization (cement, lime, sand for blotter)
• Asphalt seal coat and aggregate
• Cement concrete entrance pavement
• Drainage Blanket

The summary also contains a breakdown of the bid item quantity by roadway and an overall project total. The paving area breakdown provides the area in square yards for each bid item in the paving summary. Paving area is quantified by roadway (e.g., Mainline, US 60, KY 1819, Ramp 1, Frontage Road A) and includes an overall project total by bid item. If contractors are to submit alternate bids (e.g., asphalt design, concrete design, geogrid design), separate pavement summary sheets should be included in the plan set.

Pipe Drainage Summary This summary quantifies drainage-related bid items, including: 

• Entrance pipe
• Culvert pipe
• Storm sewer pipe
• Headwalls and metal end sections
• Drop box inlets
• Median and curb box inlets
• Manholes
• Junction boxes
• Pipe and headwall removals

Each drainage feature (e.g., a culvert pipe with headwalls at the inlet and outlet) is listed by row and includes the sheet number and station the feature can be found on, the skew from roadway centerline, cover height, design pH level, bid item(s) and quantity, and remarks.

Perforated Pipe Drainage Summary This summary quantifies subsurface and pavement perforated pipe drainage bid items, including perforated pipe, non-perforated pipe, and perforated pipe headwall type. The station or station range of each perforated pipe application is listed, including the bid item(s), quantity, and remarks. Crushed Aggregate No. 2, used at perforated pipe headwalls, is typically included in the General Summary. Additionally, geotextile fabric and backfill material, used when constructing subsurface drainage systems, will be included on the General Summary.  

Striping Plans summarize striping-related bid items and quantities, including permanent striping and pavement markings (e.g., turn arrows, crosswalks, stop bars, route shields, thermoplastic lettering, bike symbols). Items in the striping plan, along with their quantities, are often carried over to the General Summary.

Roadway plans can contain other bid item summary and quantity sheets that are less often created by the roadway designer but which are needed for contractor bidding and to assess the full project cost. Examples include:

• Signing plan estimate of quantities
• Traffic signal plan estimate of quantities
• Roadway lighting plan estimate of quantities
• ITS (e.g., traffic cameras) plan estimate of quantities
• Utility relocation plan summary (if part of roadway contract)
• Structure plan estimate of quantities
• Guardrail and End Treatment Summary

Click here to view Bid Item Workbook.

• KYTC Standard Drawings, 2020 Edition
• Sepia Drawings (Active Sepias 2020)
• KYTC Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction, 2019 Spec. Year
• KYTC Geotechnical Guidance Manual
• KYTC Geotechnical Guidance Manual 2019 Chapter 600 Update
• KYTC Geotechnical Guidance Manual 2023 Update Chapter 604-4
• KYTC Highway Design Guidance Manual
• KYTC Drainage Manual
• General Notes Listing
• Fuel Adjustment Spreadsheet
• KYTC Pavement Design Guide
  • Appendix D – Warrants for Selecting Asphalt Mixtures
• KYTC Web Based Pavement Design Application
• Special Notes / Special Provisions
• Special Note for Pipeline Inspection
• Construction Memorandums
• Design Memorandums
• Traffic Operations Memorandums
• KYTC Traffic Operations Guidance Manual
• KYTC Work Zone Safety Policy, 2014

Roadside Design Guide. (2019). American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. RSDG-4 2011. ISBN: 978-1-56051-509-8.

Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) for Streets and Highways: 2009 Edition with Revisions 1, 2, and 3. (2009). U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/2009r1r2r3/r1r2r3covintrotoc.pdf

Standard Specifications for Highway and Bridge Construction. (2015). Iowa Department of Transportation.            https://www.iowadot.gov/specifications/pdf/completebook.pdf

Highway Knowledge Portal – Pedestrian Curb Ramps

Highway Knowledge Portal – Project Cost Estimation and Management