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Engineer recommends rejecting design-build low bid for culvert project; committee preserves options
Summary
County engineering staff recommended the committee not award a $1.4 million design-build low bid for a 30-foot buried structure on Stonecoring/Graham, citing an $1.1M engineer estimate and unfamiliarity with the new design-build method; staff proposed completing a phase‑2 consultant design (under $70,000) and rebidding as a traditional design‑bid‑build.
County engineering staff told the finance committee that bids for the Stonecoring–Graham buried-structure replacement came back higher than expected and recommended the committee not award the design‑build contract to the low bidder, DPI Construction.
Justin Crowell (public works/engineering) said his engineers escalated estimate was about $1.1 million while the low design‑build bid from DPI was $1.4 million. Crowell said the design‑build process is newly permitted by state statute and local contractors appear unfamiliar with it, which may have pushed prices up. He recommended rejecting the current bids and instead completing a phase‑2 consultant design at an estimated cost under $70,000 and then competing the work as a traditional design‑bid‑build.
Crowell cautioned that the structure, a set-in-place box culvert for a 30-foot span, must last more than 100 years and that the county could return to contractors later with a clearer design package to reduce pricing uncertainty. Board members asked technical questions and some supported Crowells recommendation to vote no on awarding the design‑build to preserve the countys options.
The committee discussed next steps: either award the low DPI bid as submitted or reject and fund a consultant-designed phase 2 (not to exceed the suggested $70,000) before rebidding. Crowell said he would refine the phase‑2 estimate prior to the county board meeting.
