Supervisors award $2.5M contract for second phase of F-48 resurfacing

Four bids were submitted to Jasper County for the second phase of the Highway F-48 West resurfacing project, and they were all below the civil engineer’s estimate of more than $3.3 million. The board of supervisors on Nov. 26 voted 3-0 to accept the more than $2.5 million bid from InRoads, LLC, of Des Moines.

Altogether, the project came in about $797,000 less than what was estimated.

The first phase of the F-48 West resurfacing project from the Newton city limits to the South Skunk River bridge near the approaches of I-80 also came in below budget when the contract was awarded to Manatt’s back in 2023. The bid came in about $1 million less than what the engineer estimated it would cost.

Jasper County Engineer Michael Frietsch said the second phase of the F-48 West project extends from the South Skunk River bridge (Bridge M03) to Iowa Highway 117 near Colfax. The highway will be resurfaced with hot mix asphalt and is expected to significantly improve its lifespan and the condition of the road.

According to county documents, InRoads provided the low bid of $2,545,753.23; OMG Midwest Inc. doing business as Des Moines Asphalt & Paving submitted a bid of $2,804,529.44; Manatt’s Inc. submitted a bid of $2,863,452.70; and Grimes Asphalt and Paving Corporation submitted a bid of $2,897,970.57.

“Substantially underneath the engineer’s estimate on this one,” Frietsch said to the board of supervisors. “We’re, again, continuing to receive very competitive, very reasonable pricing for asphalt here. Bid prices are still low compared to trend, so we’re the beneficiaries of that in this regard.”

Frietsch allocated $2.5 million for the project, along with about $500,000 from a Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) grant, about $500,000 in federal aid and about $1.5 million in farm-to-market funds. Frietsch noted the late start date for the project is May 5, 2025, with completion within 120 working days.

“So just so we’re clear, this project includes the realignment of the intersection of South 28th Avenue West with F-48 West, which is going to be a fair amount of work,” Frietsch said. “It also includes reconstructing the approach paving to the railroad bridge on both sides and all that concrete that goes on both sides.”