Last month the council named Balfour Beatty Living Places as its preferred contractor for the job, set to start on 1 April 2013 and run for five or 10 years.
However, detailed negotiations between the two parties have broken down, the council said.
Talks will now reopen with some or all of the other shortlisted bidders: Amey; Carillion/Mott MacDonald; Enterprise Mouchel; and May Gurney/WSP.
In a statement the council said: “Following a period of extensive and constructive discussion with Balfour Beatty Living Places, Suffolk County Council has not been able to confirm and clarify commitments made to the point where it can provisionally award the contract. It has therefore been decided that the procurement process will revert to the previous stage where Suffolk County Council can liaise with any, or all, of the bidders who submitted final tenders (including Balfour Beatty Living Places), before again identifying a preferred bidder.
Council director of economy, skills and environment Lucy Robinson added: "We are of course disappointed not to be moving forward as announced in December however I'd like to reassure people that this does not affect our overall ambition for highways maintenance in Suffolk. Providing a quality service whilst saving taxpayers money remains our focus and the county council is continuing work towards that aim.
“This does mean a delay to the start of the new contract as we want to ensure that the matter is handled properly, that staff are kept informed and that a smooth transition is made. We will therefore be working on interim arrangements to ensure that service delivery is uninterrupted.
“We will provide more information as soon as we can."
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