One of four bidders came in below engineer’s estimates for a pedestrian bridge over Elm Creek along South Washington Avenue.
That may be all the city needs.
B&B Bridge Co., St. Paul, submitted the lowest of four bids opened Monday by Iola city officials. B&B bid $345,612 to install a steel truss span, a shade below the $349,000 engineer’s estimate, and more than $86,000 lower than the nearest bid.
Assistant City Administrator Corey Schinstock said he would meet with City Administrator Sid Fleming to look over each of the four bids to ensure they meet specifications before submitting them next Monday to Iola City Council members.
Council has final say on which bid to accept, if any, and allowing the bridge project to proceed.
If complete, the bridge would create a thoroughfare for pedestrians and cyclists to access the Lehigh Portland Trails complex and adjoining park areas south of Elm Creek. Gates Corporation employees also could bike or walk to work from downtown Iola without venturing farther west, to State Street.
The bridge originally was pegged to cost about $250,000, leading Thrive Allen County to help secure $269,000 in grants for the city.
But that was before the city realized the original projection from engineers at Schwab Eaton did not cover installation costs, which they later estimated would push the price tag to nearly $350,000.
Council members voted 6-1 in July — Aaron Franklin opposed and Bob Shaughnessy absent — to accept the largest of the grants, $197,000, from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.
Accepting that grant meant a soft pledge from the city to provide up to $80,000 from its capital reserve to complete the project, with the caveat the city would reconsider the matter if bids came in significantly higher than the engineer’s second projection.
That issue might still come into play if the city does not accept the B&B bid. The other three bids ranged from $431,927.50 to $918,203.
City gets first look at bridge bids
