The bridges on McKee and Antelope Run Roads in Pottawattomie County will begin to be replaced in the near future.
The only question is by who.
The County Board of Commissioners began figuring that out Monday morning when they got their first look at four contractor bids that would see work done on these bridges.
Assistant Public Works Director Jim Jenkins and Public Works Director Peter Clark both spoke with the Commission to list each bid, as well as to provide an early estimate for total project cost. The bids included L & M Contractors, King Construction Co., Reece Construction, and Ebert Construction, with the lowest cost at just over $354,000, and the highest at $474,000. According to Jenkins, the Department’s estimates came in at over $541,000 for both projects.
Although not initially the lowest bid, Ebert Construction also proposed an alternate, which would be the least expensive choice compared to the other four, at $345,000.
Regarding the alternate bid, Jenkins said,
“They’re looking at probably putting a different deck on that would be integral to the structure.”
Jenkins and Clark said they will return to speak to the Board again next week and go over the differences between the bids, not only in numbers, but the specific differences between the alternate and base bids of Ebert Construction. They will then provide a recommendation on which bid to award.
