Pennsylvania DOT has received conditional approval of a $1.2-billion Private Activity Bond allocation from U.S. DOT’s Credit Council for what will be the country’s first bundled bridge P3 program. DBFM proposals are due Sept. 29 from four shortlisted teams who will compete on economies of scale derived from organizing the replacement of 560 mostly small bridges over three years.

This first U.S. application of bundling bridge projects under a single P3 procurement has drawn the intense interest of FHWA. Its existing rules and guidelines never contemplated this delivery method. “They’re doing everything they can to figure out how to make this work,” says Bryan Kendro, Director of PennDOT’s Office of Policy & Public Private Partnerships.