# Colorado DOT Bid Results & Low Bidders (CDOT) (`civitab/cdot-bid-results`) Actor

Colorado Department of Transportation highway and bridge bid results from 2024 to today: letting date, project number, region, counties, work description, low bidder, all-bids-rejected flag and the bid tabulation link. Filter by year, county, region or bidder. Source credited on every record.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/civitab/cdot-bid-results.md
- **Developed by:** [Jason Padilla](https://apify.com/civitab) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$20.00 / 1,000 project bid results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Colorado DOT Bid Results & Low Bidders (CDOT)

*Published by **Civitab**. Apify Store ID: `civitab/cdot-bid-results`.*

Download **Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) highway and bridge construction bid results** as structured data. CDOT publishes the results of its construction lettings on its public *Recent Bid Results and Archived Bid Tabs* pages for the current year and the previous two. This Actor reads those pages and turns every row into a clean record with the **letting date, project code and number, CDOT region, counties, work description, low bidder** and a **direct link to the official bid tabulation**.

### What does it do?

- Reads the current-year bid results page and the archive pages for the previous two years (it finds the archive years by itself, so a new year is picked up automatically).
- Parses each row into structured fields:
  - **project code and number** taken from the free-text description, e.g. `STR 010A-002` / `25780`
  - **CDOT region(s)** (1-5) and **counties**, normalised to Colorado's 64 official county names, with common misspellings corrected
  - the **work description**, plus the original full description text
  - the **low bidder** (company), with an `allBidsRejected` flag when CDOT rejected every bid
  - the **bid tab status** (`available`, `pending` or `n/a`) and, when available, the bid tabulation **document link** and **document ID**
- Filters by year, letting date, keyword, region, county, low bidder and "only with a published bid tab".
- Makes 1 to 3 HTTP requests per run. No browser, no login, no proxies.

### Why use it?

- **A table instead of three long web pages.** CDOT's pages are free text. This Actor gives you sortable, filterable fields you can load straight into a spreadsheet or database.
- **Competitor tracking in one filter.** Use `lowBidders` to list every CDOT project a given contractor was low bidder on.
- **Geography that works.** Region and county are extracted and normalised, so you can filter by `El Paso` or Region `4` reliably.
- **Cheap and fast.** The full archive currently has 289 projects and costs about $5.78; a weekly update usually costs a few cents.

### Use cases

- **Competitor analysis**: which contractors win CDOT work, where, and for what kind of work.
- **Bid planning**: see what CDOT let in your region or county and which firms were low.
- **Subcontractor and supplier prospecting**: find the prime contractors who won recent projects in your area and contact them about the work.
- **Market research**: CDOT letting activity by year, region, county and work type.
- **Weekly monitoring**: run on a schedule with `lettingDateFrom` to capture each new letting.

### Who is it for?

- **Bid hunters and estimators** at heavy civil, paving, bridge, striping and electrical contractors.
- **Contractors and suppliers** that work as primes or subs on Colorado transportation projects.
- **Govcon and construction consultants** who advise clients on the Colorado DOT market.
- **Market researchers** tracking transportation construction activity.

### How to use it

1. Open the Actor in Apify Console and go to the **Input** tab.
2. Leave **Years** empty for every year CDOT publishes, or enter specific years, e.g. `[2026]`.
3. Optionally set **Letting date from** (e.g. `2026-09-01`) to get only recent lettings.
4. Optionally filter by **Keywords** (e.g. `bridge`, `resurfacing`, `I-70`), **CDOT regions** (e.g. `[2, 4]`), **Counties** (e.g. `El Paso`, `Larimer`) and **Low bidder contains** (e.g. `Kiewit`).
5. Tick **Only projects with a published bid tab** if you only want rows with a bid tab link.
6. Set **Max projects** to cap the number of results (and the cost).
7. Click **Start**. Results appear in the **Output** tab.
8. For weekly updates, add a **Schedule** and move `lettingDateFrom` forward (or set it via the API when you start the run).

### Input example

Region 2 and 4 projects in 2026 that have a published bid tab:

```json
{
  "years": [2026],
  "regions": [2, 4],
  "onlyWithBidTab": true,
  "maxItems": 500
}
```

Every project a competitor was low bidder on, all available years:

```json
{
  "years": [],
  "lowBidders": ["Kiewit"],
  "maxItems": 500
}
```

#### Input fields

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `years` | array of integers | `[]` (all) | Letting years to include. CDOT currently publishes 2024, 2025 and 2026. |
| `lettingDateFrom` | string | – | Only projects let on or after this date (`YYYY-MM-DD`). |
| `keywords` | array | `[]` | Keep projects whose description, project code or low bidder contains ANY of these. |
| `regions` | array of integers | – | CDOT engineering regions 1-5. |
| `counties` | array | – | Colorado county names, e.g. `El Paso`, `Larimer`. |
| `lowBidders` | array | – | Keep projects whose low bidder name contains any of these. |
| `onlyWithBidTab` | boolean | `false` | Skip projects whose bid tab is still `pending` or `n/a`. |
| `maxItems` | integer | `50` | Maximum projects per run (1-5,000). Caps cost. |
| `requestDelaySecs` | number | `1.0` | Delay between requests (1-10 s). |

### Output example

Real records, produced by the current version from CDOT's pages as published on 22 Oct 2026.

```json
[
  {
    "year": 2026,
    "lettingDate": "2026-10-15",
    "lettingDateRaw": "October 15",
    "projectCode": "MTCE R400-418",
    "projectNumber": "27332",
    "regions": [4],
    "counties": ["Jackson", "Larimer", "Weld"],
    "workDescription": "the removal and replacement of thermoplastic pavement markings at various locations.",
    "description": "MTCE R400-418 (27332) - Project is in Region 4 in Jackson, Larimer, and Weld Counties. Project work consists of the removal and replacement of thermoplastic pavement markings at various locations.",
    "lowBidder": "Roadsafe Traffic Systems, Inc.",
    "allBidsRejected": false,
    "bidTabStatus": "available",
    "bidTabUrl": "https://oitco.hylandcloud.com/cdotrmpop/docpop/docpop.aspx?docid=70547916",
    "bidTabLabel": "Project 27732 Bid Tab",
    "bidTabDocId": "70547916",
    "sourceUrl": "https://www.codot.gov/business/bidding/bid-tab-archives",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-10-23T02:31:05Z",
    "source": "Source: State of Colorado (CDOT), modified",
    "dataNotice": "The data made available here has been modified for use from its original source, which is the State of Colorado"
  },
  {
    "year": 2026,
    "lettingDate": "2026-10-22",
    "lettingDateRaw": "October 22",
    "projectCode": "STR 010A-002",
    "projectNumber": "25780",
    "regions": [2],
    "counties": ["Huerfano", "Las Animas", "Pueblo"],
    "workDescription": "hot mix asphalt resurfacing CO 10A and other improvements.",
    "lowBidder": "Walsenburg Sand and Gravel Company",
    "allBidsRejected": false,
    "bidTabStatus": "pending",
    "bidTabUrl": null,
    "bidTabLabel": null,
    "bidTabDocId": null
  },
  {
    "year": 2026,
    "lettingDate": "2026-05-29",
    "projectCode": "PCCP 101-2026",
    "projectNumber": null,
    "regions": [2],
    "counties": [],
    "workDescription": null,
    "description": "PCCP 101-2026 - Bid for master task order on-call contrete paving services in Region 2.",
    "lowBidder": null,
    "allBidsRejected": true,
    "bidTabStatus": "n/a",
    "bidTabUrl": null
  }
]
```

Values are copied as CDOT published them. In the first record, the bid tab label says "27732" while the project number is "27332"; that mismatch (and the "contrete" typo in the third) is on CDOT's page.

Each run also writes an `OUTPUT` record to the run's key-value store with items per year, the years available, the stop reason, filtered-out count, pages fetched, request success %, HTTP status counts, errors and the amount charged.

### Output fields

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `year` | integer | null | Year of the bid tab page the row came from. |
| `lettingDate` | string | null | Letting date as `YYYY-MM-DD`. |
| `lettingDateRaw` | string | Letting date text as published, e.g. `October 15`. |
| `projectCode` | string | null | CDOT project code, e.g. `STR 010A-002`. |
| `projectNumber` | string | null | CDOT project (subaccount) number, e.g. `25780`. |
| `regions` | array of integers | CDOT region(s) mentioned, 1-5. |
| `counties` | array of strings | Colorado counties named in the description, normalised to official names. |
| `workDescription` | string | null | The "Project work consists of ..." part of the description. |
| `description` | string | Full original description text. |
| `lowBidder` | string | null | Low bidder company name; `null` when all bids were rejected. |
| `allBidsRejected` | boolean | `true` when CDOT rejected all bids (or no bids were received). |
| `bidTabStatus` | string | `available`, `pending` or `n/a`, as shown by CDOT. |
| `bidTabUrl` | string | null | Direct link to the official bid tabulation document. |
| `bidTabLabel` | string | null | Link text as published by CDOT. |
| `bidTabDocId` | string | null | Document ID of the bid tabulation. |
| `sourceUrl` | string | The CDOT page the row came from. |
| `scrapedAt` | string | When the record was produced (UTC). |
| `source` | string | Source credit: `Source: State of Colorado (CDOT), modified`. |
| `dataNotice` | string | The State of Colorado's data notice, on every record. |

### Pricing

This Actor uses **pay-per-event** pricing: **$0.02 per project** saved to your dataset (event `project`). Projects removed by your filters are not charged. Apify's standard synthetic "Actor start" event ($0.00005 per run) also applies. `maxItems` and Apify's **Max cost per run** cap your spend, and the Actor stops cleanly when the budget is reached.

Worked examples:

| What you run | Projects | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| A weekly update with `lettingDateFrom` (one letting; 129 of 135 lettings in 2024-2026 had 1-5 projects) | 1-5 | $0.02-$0.10 |
| Every 2026 project published so far (80 on 22 Oct 2026) | 80 | $1.60 |
| El Paso County, all years (16 projects on 22 Oct 2026) | 16 | $0.32 |
| One competitor across all years (e.g. 8 projects with Kiewit as low bidder) | 8 | $0.16 |
| The full archive, 2024-2026 (289 projects on 22 Oct 2026) | 289 | $5.78 |

### Integrations and export

Like any Apify Actor, you can:

- **Export** results as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or HTML.
- **Use the Apify API** to start runs and fetch results from your own code.
- **Schedule** runs in Apify Console (e.g. weekly after CDOT's letting day).
- **Trigger webhooks** when a run finishes, and send results to Google Sheets, Slack, Zapier, Make and other Apify integrations.

### Limitations and data source notes

- **Coverage window.** CDOT publishes the current year plus the previous two (2024-2026 at the time of writing). Older years are not available from these pages; requesting them logs a warning.
- **Low bidder only.** The pages list the low bidder, not every bidder, and no bid amounts. Full bidder lists and line-item unit prices are only in the bid tabulation documents, which are linked via `bidTabUrl` but not parsed.
- **Parsed from free text.** Project number, regions, counties and work description are extracted from CDOT's description text, which varies. In the 22 Oct 2026 data, 284 of 289 rows had a project number, 266 a region, 228 at least one county and 249 a work description. Rows "at various locations" or statewide often have no county.
- **Values as published.** Labels, typos and any mismatches on CDOT's pages are passed through unchanged (except that e-mail addresses and phone numbers in free text are redacted).
- **No built-in "new only" mode.** For incremental updates, use `lettingDateFrom`.
- **Bid tab links** point to CDOT's document system; their availability depends on CDOT.
- **If CDOT's website is down.** When the current-year page fails, the Actor falls back to the archive pages for the previous years. If every page fails, the run fails with a clear message and nothing is charged.

### Legal and data note

- Source: the Colorado Department of Transportation's public *Recent Bid Results and Archived Bid Tabs* pages (and the yearly archive pages; see `sourceUrl` in each record). They are published for contractors and the public.
- At the time of review (22 Oct 2026), CDOT's website robots.txt allowed all user agents (`Disallow:` empty) and stated that robots may access all areas already accessible to anonymous users. CDOT's website has no terms-of-use page restricting reuse. Check the source's terms for your intended use.
- The pages are public, with no login or CAPTCHA. The Actor makes one request per year page (usually 3 per run), at least 1 s apart, with an identified User-Agent.
- Personal data: none expected. Low bidders are companies, and any e-mail address or phone number in free text is redacted.
- This Actor is not affiliated with or endorsed by CDOT or the State of Colorado, and uses no state seals or logos. Every record credits the source (`source`) and carries the State of Colorado's data notice (`dataNotice`). Always check the official bid tabulation before relying on the figures.

### FAQ

**Does it include every bidder and the bid amounts?**
No. CDOT's results pages list the low bidder only. Every bidder and the line-item prices are in the bid tabulation document, which each record links to (`bidTabUrl`, `bidTabDocId`).

**How far back does it go?**
The current year plus the previous two, which is what CDOT publishes. The Actor detects the available years automatically.

**What does `allBidsRejected` mean?**
CDOT rejected every bid for that project (or the bidder column shows no bids), so there is no low bidder and `lowBidder` is `null`.

**What does `bidTabStatus` mean?**
`available` means CDOT has posted the bid tabulation and `bidTabUrl` links to it. `pending` means it hasn't been posted yet (common for the most recent letting). `n/a` means CDOT marks it as not applicable; in the 22 Oct 2026 data, all 10 `n/a` rows were projects where all bids were rejected.

**Why do some projects have no county or region?**
Some work is statewide or "at various locations", and some descriptions don't name a county or region. The fields are left empty rather than guessed.

**Can I track one competitor?**
Yes. Put part of the company name in `lowBidders`, e.g. `["Kiewit"]`, and leave `years` empty to get every project they were low on in the available years.

**How do I get only new results each week?**
Schedule the Actor and set `lettingDateFrom` to the date of your last run (you can pass it through the API or update the saved input).

**How much does the full archive cost?**
$0.02 per project. The 289 projects published on 22 Oct 2026 cost $5.78.

**How fresh is the data?**
Each run reads CDOT's pages live. New lettings appear as soon as CDOT adds them to its page.

# Changelog

This Actor's version history is a separate document: https://apify.com/civitab/cdot-bid-results/changelog.md

# Actor input Schema

## `years` (type: `array`):

Letting years to include, e.g. \[2026]. Leave empty for every year CDOT publishes (current year + previous two).

## `lettingDateFrom` (type: `string`):

Only projects let on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD).

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

Keep projects whose description, project code or low bidder contains ANY of these (e.g. bridge, resurfacing, I-70).

## `regions` (type: `array`):

CDOT engineering regions 1-5.

## `counties` (type: `array`):

Colorado county names, e.g. Larimer, El Paso.

## `lowBidders` (type: `array`):

Keep projects whose low bidder name contains any of these (competitor tracking).

## `onlyWithBidTab` (type: `boolean`):

Skip projects whose bid tabulation is still 'Pending' or 'N/A'.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many projects (caps cost).

## `requestDelaySecs` (type: `number`):

Politeness delay between page requests, 1-10 s (default 1 s).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "years": [],
  "lettingDateFrom": "",
  "keywords": [],
  "regions": [],
  "counties": [],
  "lowBidders": [],
  "onlyWithBidTab": false,
  "maxItems": 50,
  "requestDelaySecs": 1
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Dataset items. Field types are in the dataset schema.

## `runSummary` (type: `string`):

JSON: items pushed, request success rate, stop reason, charged events.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "years": [],
    "maxItems": 50
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("civitab/cdot-bid-results").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "years": [],
    "maxItems": 50,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("civitab/cdot-bid-results").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "years": [],
  "maxItems": 50
}' |
apify call civitab/cdot-bid-results --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,civitab/cdot-bid-results"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/Fi44J6zPKVzo2YS3d/builds/Nnysoa0LQDBKjsP8I/openapi.json