Caltrans notified C.C. Myers, Inc. that they were invited to submit a bid on the project Monday, January 31, 1994, only fourteen days after the Northridge Earthquake. Plans were available the night of the 31st with bids due less than four days later, on Friday, February 4th at 10:00 a.m. The plans were preliminary and without details, the bid a fixed-unit price, multi-million-dollar contract wtih a forty-percent disadvantaged business goal. C.C. Myers, Inc. was awarded the contract late that same Friday afternoon.

Contract requirements allowed a maximum completion time of 140 calendar days with a penalty for late completion of $205,000 per calendar day and an incentive of $200,000 per day for early completion. Contract time commenced on Saturday, the 5th of February, with materials and equipment moving to the jobsite that day and through the weekend. Even though the final construction plans were not available until February 26th, C.C. Myers, Inc. immediately went to work on a 24-hour-day, 7 days-per-week schedule with up to 400 workmen on the job, while maintaining a safety record that even surpassed C.C. Myers, Inc.'s AGC award-winning program.

Sixty-six days after the contract was signed the freeway was opened to traffic, 74 days ahead of schedule. The opening of the Santa Monica Freeway allowed over 350,000 vehicles a day to once again move between downtown Los Angeles and the Santa Monica area. This effort saved costs calculated at over one million dollars to the public for each day the freeway was shut down.

Despite numerous changes and unanticipated quantity overruns, the C.C. Myers, Inc. organization rose to the occasion to meet this most difficult challenge in the full view and scrutiny of the public, the press and the politicians. The project was acknowledged worldwide by industry and political leaders as an outstanding example of construction achievement.

WINNER: 1995 AGC Constructor Award Competition for Meeting the Challenge of a Difficult Job and Finalist in the category of Contribution to the Community.