Chickasaw County awards two bridge contracts, authorizes engineer to sign

The Chickasaw County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 2 approved two construction contracts for county bridge replacements and authorized the county engineer to sign the agreements.

Engineer Roman Lensing recommended awarding the Randall Bell Avenue bridge project (BROSCO19128J19) to Tyler Construction Inc. at $1,058,994.66. Lensing told the board the low bid exceeded the engineer’s estimate by roughly 14 percent, likely because the contractor must key the structure into bedrock. The board adopted Resolution 02-02-26-09 to award the contract and permit the engineer to execute the contract on the county’s behalf; a roll-call vote recorded unanimous approval.

Lensing also presented bids for a second bridge, the 1‑90th Street crossing over Plum Creek. That job came in below estimate and Lensing recommended awarding the contract to Peterson for $597,007.75. The board approved Resolution 02-02-26-10 to award that contract and authorized contract signing; the motion passed on a recorded vote.

Lensing said the two projects together align with the county’s bridge priorities and noted state and federal programs that helped get the projects to bidding. He also flagged that the higher-than-estimated bid on the Randall Bell Avenue project reflected subsurface conditions not fully captured by previous estimates.

Both resolutions instruct the engineer to complete contract documents and execute agreements in DocExpress, the county’s contract-signing portal. The contracts are subject to the usual bonding and insurance requirements contained in the county bid specifications.

Next steps are contract execution and scheduling work with the awarded contractors, followed by standard construction oversight by the county engineer’s office.