MnDOT officials submitted a letter Monday to the Department of Administration defending their selection of Colorado based Flatiron Construction. Flatiron's proposal is the most expensive and would take the longest to build.
Two of the losing teams are protesting the decision, saying MnDOT officials misled them on the preferred approach to rebuild the I-35W bridge. They're calling on MnDOT to release the scoring data used on all four contractors.
The lawyer representing two of the losing teams argues that the method used to select Flatiron was "arbitrary and capricious."
In response, MnDOT officials say the evaluation process was thorough and fair to all proposers. The letter also says the project manager emphasized to an unnamed contractor that MnDOT was not focusing on "cheap" in this process.
A spokesman for the Department of Administration says it is still working on a ruling.