East Street bridge near Mingo to be replaced for $806K

Jasper County has hired a contractor to replace the bridge it shares with the City of Mingo. The county board of supervisors voted 3-0 this past week to award the contract to Peterson Contractors, Inc. for more than $806,000. The week before the county formed an agreement with Mingo to share responsibilities for the project.

County Engineer Michael Frietsch presented the bids to supervisors during their March 4 meeting. Bridge F04 is located along East Street near Mingo, and it crosses a small natural stream. The west right-of-way is under the City of Mingo’s jurisdiction and the remainder is in Jasper County territory.

“The current bridge is one of those monolithic, poured concrete type structures,” Frietsch said. “Its life estimate was about six years in 2023. The City of Mingo went and put in for City Bridge Funds and was granted $1.5 million in City Bridge Funding for this. We just did the 28E agreement with Mingo last week.”

Five bids were received by the Iowa Department of Transportation. Petersen Contractors submitted the low bid of $806,718.40.

Jasper Construction Services, Inc. submitted a bid of more than $876,000; Herberger Construction Co., Inc. submitted a bid of more than $890,000; Manatt’s Inc./Cunningham-Reis submitted a bid of more than $901,000; and Godberen-Smith Construction Co. submitted a more than $1.04 million bid.

Initial construction costs were thought to be $900,000, so the bid from Petersen Contractors is well below that original estimate. Frietsch said the late start date for the project is June 9, and there are 105 working days scheduled. Frietsch said the new bridge will be an 80-foot continuous concrete slab structure.

“It’s not going to take that long to build,” he said. “It’s not a very big bridge. East Street is not going to be a hard road to close and divert traffic around.”

Supervisor Brandon Talsma added, “You say that until you close it.”

“I know. Famous last words. I know.”