Joe Gaytan, project engineer with the Texas Department of Transportation, tells GlobeSt.com that $4-million contract is for clean up and construction. Total costs for the project are estimated to run in excess of $10 million, including alternate transportation such as ferries to the island during the down time.

Gaytan says Williams Brothers is committed to finishing the causeway construction by Dec. 23. "We are on schedule," he says, "the filings are in and the bents and we will be pouring the deck in a few weeks." According to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, as of last year, Williams Brothers was the nation's largest federal highway contractor.