The Washington state Department of Transportation has opened bids for a project it plans to begin in the spring to relocate the weigh station on Interstate 90 near the Washington-Idaho state line. The apparent low bidder for the work is Selland Construction Inc., of Wenatchee, Wash., with a bid of $6.7 million.

The overall project was expected to cost about $12 million, including a $10.3 million engineer's estimate for the construction, says DOT spokesman Al Gilson. Selland was among eight contractors to bid for the work.

The project is expected to get under way this spring, and will take about 18 months to complete, Gilson says. The weigh station is to be moved about a half-mile west from its current location and will have its own dedicated freeway off-ramp and on-ramp.

Gilson says the current weigh station was built in the 1970s. Moving it west to add its own on- and off-ramp will relieve traffic at the nearby Idaho Road interchange, which is just east of the current weigh station, and will enable the installation of sensors along the freeway needed for two new remote systems that will help DOT and the Washington State Patrol monitor trucks on the interstate.

The new station will be equipped with a weigh-in-motion system that will allow trucks to be weighed while they are traveling at highway speeds on I-90, eliminating the need for them to stop at the scales unless they are directed to do so.

It also will include a feature called the North American Preclearance and Safety System (NORPASS), developed by a partnership of state and Canadian provincial agencies and trucking industry representatives. NORPASS-equipped weigh stations allow the Washington State Patrol to access information via a transponder and an electronic database about a truck approaching the weigh station. Freight carriers that participate in the program mount a transponder in their trucks, and a roadside reader checks the truck's credentials. If the driver of a truck sees a green light on the transponder, it's ok to proceed without stopping at the station. A red light signals the driver to stop.