(1) Except as otherwise provided in sections 39-2808 to 39-2823, when letting contracts for the construction, reconstruction, improvement, maintenance, or repair of roads, bridges, and their appurtenances, the department shall solicit bids as follows:

(a)(i) For contracts with an estimated cost, as determined by the department, of greater than two hundred fifty thousand dollars, the department shall provide notice of the department's solicitation of sealed bids using the following methods:

(A) Publish notice once a week for three consecutive weeks in the official county newspaper designated by the county board in the county where the work is to be done and in such additional newspaper or newspapers as may appear necessary to the department in order to give notice of the receiving of bids; and

(B) Publish notice on the official web page designated by the department beginning at least twenty days before the deadline for receipt of bids. The notice will be deemed to comply with this requirement even if there are temporary or occasional times when Internet service is down or the designated web page is not available for any reason.

(ii) Such notice shall identify the general project location, state where the plans and specifications for the work may be inspected, and designate the time when the bids shall be filed and opened. The newspaper notice shall identify the department's official web page where the details of the bid letting may be viewed electronically.

(iii) The notice requirements of this section shall be deemed to have been met if notice of the bid solicitation has been published on the department's designated web page for at least twenty days prior to the time when bids will be opened, even if there is any defect with the newspaper notice described in subdivision (1)(a)(i)(A) of this section, including, but not limited to, meeting a publication deadline that has been moved by the publisher resulting in an inability to satisfy the requirement of three consecutive weeks of published notice.

(iv) If through no fault of the department publication of such notice fails to appear as prescribed in subdivisions (1)(a)(i) and (ii) of this section, the department shall be deemed to have fulfilled the requirements of this subdivision; and

(b) For contracts with an estimated cost, as determined by the department, of two hundred fifty thousand dollars or less, the department, in its sole discretion, shall either:

(i) Follow the procedures given in subdivision (a) of this subsection; or

(ii) Request bids from at least three potential bidders for such work. If the department requests bids under this subdivision, it shall designate a time when the bids shall be opened. The department may award a contract pursuant to this subdivision if it receives at least one responsive bid.

(2) The Department of Transportation may adjust the amounts in subdivisions (1)(a) and (b) of this section annually on October 1 by the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, at the close of the twelve-month period ending on August 31 of such year. The amounts shall be rounded to the next highest one-thousand-dollar amount.