In an historic announcement in 2013, W. C. Benton & Associates was named Contract Compliance Manager for the East End Crossing/Louisville Ohio River Bridges. W. C. Benton & Associates was the first consultant to perform the compliance function for INDOT. The centerpieces of the East End Crossing—one half of the 2.3 Billion Louisville Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges Project—are a cable stay bridge and 1,700 foot tunnel that offer more efficient arteries and improve cross-river mobility from Indiana to the East End of Louisville and points north on Interstate 71, and east on Interstate 64. The overall project is 8.5 miles and was supported by 1,200 workers.
Since there was no precedent for how to execute a compliance system for this intricate financial and project delivery network, W. C. Benton & Associates developed its own methodologies and processes conducting Davis Bacon, Commercially Useful Function, and Title VI reviews, and tracking DBE participation. The execution of the compliance function involved embedded managers who maintained objectivity but were integrated in the construction process as defined by FHWA 1273. The field system and daily and periodic reporting mechanisms developed by W. C. Benton & Associates were praised by INDOT, and respected by the developer and prime contractors on the project. This field system included extensive and multiple FHWA 1273 reviews and interviews of the P3 developer, prime contractor, six extensions of the prime, 30 DBE subcontractors, and other majority subcontractors. The duration of the project was from June 2013 to substantial completion in December 2016.