County catches a break with Sunflower Road project
Staff reporter
In between department head evaluations and the 2008 budget review, Marion County Commission got a shot in the arm Tuesday morning with some good news — a lower than anticipated bid for a road project.
Bids were solicited for an overlay project on Sunflower Road/South Third Street, Marion, from U.S.-50 to Main Street.
The engineering firm of Kirkham Michael, Inc. had an engineer's estimate of $1,019,000 for the 11-mile project.
Five bidders provided competitive bids with Schilling Construction Company, Inc. of Manhattan presenting the apparent low bid of $793,582 with an Oct. 15 start date.
Other bidders were Venture Corporation of Great Bend, $833,409; APAC-Kansas, Inc., Shears Division of Hutchinson, $835,793; Lafarge of Wichita, $907,601; and Koss Construction of Topeka, $1,197,799.
The commission accepted the low bid, pending final review by the engineer.
Jon Halbegewachs of Kirkham Michael said the project could be completed in two weeks, weather permitting. Road construction can only be completed if the temperature is at least 50 degrees and rising.
The county road and bridge department will patch the road prior to the overlay. Halbegewachs suggested county crews use hot mix instead of cold mix for patching material.
Since the bid was less than anticipated, the county may consider overlaying of additional roads while the contractor is in the area.
