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Tuscarawas County awards material bids; engineer recommends freight factor to compare net prices
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Summary
The county took bids for asphalt, limestone, sand and ice-control grits and, on the county engineer's recommendation, awarded materials to bidders by lowest net price after applying a $5.20-per-mile freight factor; RJ Wright and Sons recommended for fuel.
Tuscarawas County commissioners on March 4 recorded material bid tabulations from March 3 and, following a recommendation from the county engineer, moved to award contracts to bidders by lowest net price when factoring in delivery costs.
Commissioner Greg Ress moved and Commissioner Mitch Pace seconded to award material bids for the Engineer's Office per the recommendation of Douglas N. Bachman, P.E., P.S., Tuscarawas County Engineer. The board adopted Resolution 167-2026 unanimously.
The engineer's recommendation, contained in a March 3, 2026 letter from Douglas N. Bachman, directs purchasing of asphalt concrete maintenance materials, sand and gravel, limestone and ready-mix concrete to the low net bidder after adding a freight factor of $5.20 per mile (based on a 15-ton load at $0.35 per ton) from the bidder's plant to each project site. Ice control grits were also awarded to bidders with delivered amounts to applicable vendors evaluated on the same low-net-price basis. RJ Wright and Sons of Newcomerstown was recommended for gasoline and fuel oil.
Bid tabulations recorded on the agenda showed per-ton prices for asphalt (bidders including Mar-Zane Inc., Canton Asphalt Company and Newton Asphalt), multiple sand-and-gravel bidders and several limestone bidders with FOB plant and delivered price options. The engineer's letter also instructs county staff to evaluate delivered prices and consider deliveries to county outposts when calculating best value.
Why it matters: Applying a freight multiplier to bid prices changes the comparative cost of materials depending on vendor location, which can affect which suppliers receive purchase orders and the county's highway maintenance costs in different quadrants.
Next steps: County purchasing and the Engineer's Office will issue purchase orders to the awarded bidders and apply the freight factor to calculate low-net prices for individual projects as needed.