Commissioners Open Bridge Replacement Bids

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – The Muskingum County Commissioners received bids today for three upcoming bridge replacement projects that are slated for bridges on Clay Pike, Lower Kroft, and Darlington Drive. Each location received a single bid and the commissioners voted to place the bids under advisement in order to be reviewed by the County Engineer’s office.

Muskingum County Engineer’s Project Manager Shawn Johnson explained how the bidding process works.

“Once we get the funding, we put together a set of plans and then we put together an estimate. Then we advertise for bids. We have to follow the ODOT rules for bidding so we have to advertise for three weeks and then we open the bids. We’ll have to go back and review the numbers, make sure everything is… you know, what it says and then we’ll see if ODOT’s ok with their portion of the review process. And then we’ll award the lowest bidder,” Johnson said.

Johnson noted that these three projects were the first of seven that will be covered by federal money and that the county will be accepting bids for three more bridge projects in the following weeks.

“So this is definitely a different type of year for us,” Johnson said. “We are fortunate enough to get usually one bridge funded with federal funds every year. This particular pot of money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill allowed us to apply for several bridges. So we’ll bid a total of seven just out of this particular pot of federal money and then everything else we usually do inhouse for our projects. So very seldom are we here bidding on more than just one bridge in a year.”

Once bids are accepted the construction companies will dictate when the 90 day window for completion will begin. The Darlington project will have a 120 day window.