BENTONVILLE -- Two companies are interested in repairing the historic War Eagle Bridge, and Benton County officials said they hope to award the job in the next few days.
County officials had a bid opening Friday morning, with two bids submitted before the 10 a.m. deadline. Crossland Heavy Construction of Columbus, Kan., and Steve Beam Construction Inc. of Fort Smith were the bidders.
Crossland is the apparent low bidder, according to the bid sheets. County Judge Barry Moehring said county officials and engineers from Great River Engineering, the company hired by the county to do consulting work on the project, will review the bid packages to make certain they are in compliance.
"We'll huddle with the engineers and analyze the bids down to the last details," Moehring said Friday. "We should be able to proceed with the award pretty soon. If not today, then very, very soon next week unless there's something the engineer sees that's not right."
Benton County spent about $640,000 in 2010 to repair the 109-year-old bridge. State inspectors identified critical deficiencies in the structure during an annual inspection in 2013.
From the initial review, county officials said Crossland submitted a base bid of $1,140,358. Steve Beam did not submit a base bid.
The work was broken down into three parts with each addition to the base bid meant to add to the safety and the projected useful life of the bridge after repairs are done. Crossland submitted a bid of $1,257,158 for the base plus alternate 1, and a bid of $1,379,458 for the base plus alternates 1 and 2.
Steve Beam submitted a bid of $1,344,552 for the base plus alternate 1, and a bid of $1,454,192 for the base plus alternate items 1 and 2.
Comptroller Brenda Guenther said the county has $1.4 million in the 2017 budget for work on War Eagle Bridge. The county expects to receive a $500,000 federal grant to reimburse it for some of the costs once the work is done, she said.
Justice of the Peace Barney Hayes is hopeful the county can award the contract.
"It would have been nice if we'd had a few more bids," Hayes said. "This project is very significant to the people who live in the area and to the people of Benton County. The bridge has been a rallying point for a lot of people."
Justice of the Peace Joel Jones said he is glad the bids are in.
Benton County previously sought bids in October, but county officials did not award the contract after they discovered the low bidder at that time did not have the desired experience in repairing and restoring historic bridges.
"I hope that with these new bids we can move forward," Jones said.
Metro on 03/04/2017