Repaired

A major highway interchange in California that was destroyed when a tractor trailer carrying thousands of gallons of gasoline crashed and burst into flames has been replaced in record time.

The state estimated that repairs to the 165-foot-long ramp between Interstates 80 and 580 would take 50 days and cost $5.2 million. For every day short of the June 26 deadline, it promised a $200,000 bonus, not to exceed a total of $5 million. The highest bid came in at $6.4 million. Mr. Myers’s company, C. C. Myers Inc., won with the lowest bid — $867,075 — and completed the project in 17 days, winning the full $5 million.

“This ain’t no $800,000 project,” Mr. Myers said in an interview, adding that he hoped to realize a $2.5 million profit.

“It was a monumental accomplishment,” said Jennifer Gavin of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. “But it’s the way we’re doing business these days.”

Incentives were also used in rebuilding Interstate 40 over the Arkansas River in Oklahoma after a barge hit it and Interstate 15 in Salt Lake City for the 2002 Winter Olympics. The trend, Ms. Gavin said, is to “deliver quality but at ever faster speed because the public needs it.”

In 1994, after the Northridge earthquake in Southern California, C. C. Myers repaired two bridges 74 days ahead of the state’s deadline, earning a $14.8 million bonus.

Millions of California drivers are thanking their lucky stars that Myers' company was able to fix the bridge well ahead of the timeline proffered by the California authorities.