Caltrans Contract Cost Database Scraper

Overview

Scrapes California DOT (Caltrans) contract cost database with 3. 3+ million historical records from 1993-2025. Access item-level pricing, bidder rankings, and contract details for California highway construction projects.

Features

• Search by keywords to find specific results
• Export data in JSON, CSV, or Excel formats
• Captures pricing information
• Built-in proxy support for reliable data collection

Use Cases

• Track - Track state and local government data and permits
• Monitor - Monitor regulatory filings and public records
• Build - Build databases for civic tech and transparency projects
• Aggregate - Aggregate local government data for community research

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Default
dataSource	string	Which Caltrans data to fetch	contractCost
district	string	Caltrans district number (1-12)	``
itemCode	string	Caltrans item code to search for (e.g., 128600 for concrete)
contractId	string	Specific contract number to lookup
yearStart	integer	Start year for date range (1993-2025)	2020
yearEnd	integer	End year for date range	2025
bidderRank	string	Filter by bidder ranking	all
county	string	California county name
limit	integer	Maximum number of records to return	1000
proxyConfiguration	object	Proxy settings

Output Example

Each result contains structured data like this:

{
  "contractId": "ABC-12345",
  "district": "Sample district",
  "county": 127,
  "itemCode": "Sample itemCode",
  "itemDescription": "Sample itemDescription",
  "quantity": "Sample quantity",
  "unit": "Sample unit",
  "unitPrice": 29.99,
  "totalPrice": 29.99,
  "bidderRank": "ABC-12345",
  "contractorName": "Caltrans Contract Cost Database Sample Item",
  "awardDate": "2025-01-15"
}

Pricing

This actor uses pay-per-result pricing:

• $0.001 per result
• $1.00 per 1,000 results

No monthly fees. You only pay for what you scrape. Apify Free plan includes $5/month in platform credits.

How to Run

Apify Console

1. Go to the Caltrans Contract Cost Database Scraper actor page
2. Configure your input parameters
3. Click Start and wait for the results
4. Download data in JSON, CSV, or Excel format

API

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/fortuitous_pirate~caltrans-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"maxItems": 10}'

Python SDK

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_API_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("fortuitous_pirate/caltrans-scraper").call(
    run_input={"maxItems": 10}
)

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

Integration

Connect Caltrans Contract Cost Database Scraper with your existing tools and workflows:

• API access - Programmatic access via Apify API
• Webhooks - Get notified when scraping completes
• Scheduling - Set up recurring runs on any schedule
• Zapier / Make - Connect with 5,000+ apps via Apify integrations
• Python / Node.js SDKs - Native client libraries for easy integration