Liquidated damages in the bid proposal, KY 6418 Cottonwood Point

All 14 liquidated damages and penalty provisions that apply to the contract, collected from the proposal's special notes, the traffic control plan and the Standard Specifications. Each one is checked against its own cap and against the overall cap in the Special Note for Liquidated Damages, with exposure by scenario. The check produces five pre-bid questions for the Cabinet.

Bid proposal, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, federal-aid bridge replacementNew bridge over Mill Bayou and KY 6418 reconstructionProposal (118 pages) and traffic control plan (6 sheets)Letting Dec 11, 2026Prepared Nov 5, 2026

Summary

Conflict · Special Note for Payroll Submittals

The payroll charge is 10 times the note's own cap from the first week

The note assesses $5,000 per calendar week for each late certified payroll, but caps liquidated damages under the same note at $500 per payroll. One payroll four weeks late is $20,000 at the weekly rate, 40 times the cap. Ask the Cabinet which amount governs before the letting. How the conflict would be read, and whether a weekly charge this far above any likely cost would hold as liquidated damages or fail as a penalty under Kentucky law, is for construction counsel licensed in Kentucky to confirm.

Overall cap · Special Note for Liquidated Damages

The 3% cap covers only 3 of 14 charges

The cap of 3% of the original contract amount applies only to completion and interim liquidated damages. The other 11 charges sit outside it, and 7 of them have no cap at all. In the severe scenario, exposure is $830,100 with every cap applied, $272,100 above the $558,000 cap at an $18.6 million bid.

Same event · Interim date 1 and TCP-3

A late bridge opening triggers two daily charges

If traffic is not on the new bridge on Sep 30, 2027, both the interim liquidated damages ($3,000 per day) and the diversion charge on TCP-3 ($3,500 per day) apply, and the proposal says all liquidated damages are applied cumulatively. Three weeks late: $63,000 plus $73,500. The diversion charge is also outside the cap. Whether both charges can be assessed for the same delay is a question for construction counsel licensed in Kentucky.

Liquidated damages register and exposure

Pick a scenario or move the sliders. Quantities can also be changed row by row in the register. Exposure is calculated for each charge with and without caps, and the completion and interim liquidated damages are limited together by the overall cap. Click a row to see the contract language and a suggested question.

Scenario
Same event
Show
No.ChargeAmountOwn capOverall capScenarioExposureCheck

Days, hours and weeks count as whole units, and part of a unit counts as a full one. The diversion charge L05 follows the Interim Completion Date 1 delay day for day. Higher only shows the result if the Cabinet confirms that only one of two charges for the same event will be assessed.

Pre-bid questions

Five questions that follow from the check, written to be submitted through the Cabinet's letting Q&A before the posted deadline.

    Sources and method

    Sources

    • Proposal_KY6418_Cottonwood_Point.pdfBid proposal: special notes, Form FHWA-1273 and bid items118 pages
    • TCP_KY6418_Traffic_Control_Plan.pdfTraffic control plan sheets TCP-1 to TCP-6, phasing and closure windows6 sheets
    • KYTC Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction, Edition of 2026Subsections 108.09 Failure to Complete on Time, 112.03.12 Project Traffic Coordinator and 112.03.15 Non-Compliance of Maintain and Control of TrafficReference
    • Form FHWA-1273, Required Contract ProvisionsWeekly certified payroll requirement on federal-aid construction contractsReference

    Method

    1. The proposal, the traffic control plan and the referenced Standard Specifications were searched for liquidated damages, penalties, assessments and dollar amounts tied to a day, hour, week, shift, person or occurrence.
    2. Each charge was entered with its event, amount, basis, own cap, whether the overall cap applies, and source (document, page or sheet, note or subsection).
    3. Each rate per period was compared with the cap in the same note, and each charge was checked against the overall cap in the Special Note for Liquidated Damages.
    4. Charges triggered by the same event, or by the same overrun, were paired.
    5. Exposure was calculated as amount × units, with and without caps. Completion and interim liquidated damages were summed and then limited by the overall cap.

    Assumptions and limitations

    • The overall cap is calculated on the bid amount entered as the original contract amount. The 108.09 daily charge follows the schedule for that amount: $4,000 per day from $10,000,000.01 to $20,000,000 and $4,750 above. Change orders are not included.
    • The 108.09 exception for days when seasonal or temperature limitations prohibit work on the controlling item is not applied; every day is counted.
    • Withholding of progress payments under Form FHWA-1273 and other remedies are not included.
    • The scenarios are worked examples, not forecasts for the project.
    • Whether two charges can be assessed for the same delay, which of two conflicting amounts governs, and whether an amount far above any likely damages would be enforced as liquidated damages or treated as a penalty are legal questions. Have construction counsel licensed in Kentucky review this before the questions are submitted.