Ringgold County will build 90-foot bridge with county crews after no-bid letting

Ringgold County’s Board of Supervisors approved moving forward with in-house construction of bridge project LFM-POE17(1)-7X-80 after no responsive bids were received at a local letting held May 11.

Engineer Jared Johnson told the board the project — defined in the resolution as a 90'-0" x 26' CCS bridge — will be built with county forces at a cost not to exceed $385,575.95. By Resolution RC26-85 the board authorized construction by local forces and required the county engineer to return to the board for approval if actual costs are expected to exceed the engineer’s estimate. The motion, made by Supervisor Steve Knapp and seconded by Supervisor Randy Taytor, passed unanimously.

The bridge award followed Johnson’s update on secondary roads work across the county. Staff reported spot rock deliveries to the north central district, shoulder repairs with a tractor and shoul dering disk, sign replacements, and vegetation spraying around bridge ends. At the Middle Fork 10 site crews removed the existing west abutment, installed a temporary stream crossing, excavated and graded west abutment footings, and began driving falsework piling for the west span; crews had driven five of ten falsework pilings and planned to complete piling, drive the west pier piling, extend pile lengths and remove the east-end superstructure during the week.

Johnson advised the board that a piling at the west pier hit refusal about 7–8 feet below the final cutoff elevation; to avoid above-ground welds the department ordered 50-foot piling, expected to arrive early in the week. He also noted related work orders, including completion of pit and brush clearing under W.O. 1416.

The resolution cites state code requirements for bidding and authorizes county construction when no responsive bids are received; the board recorded the unanimous vote and the auditor attested. The engineer’s report also flagged two site-specific issues: a cultural-resources review indicating the Jefferson 26 alignment nearly avoids, but still adversely impacts, an archaeological site, and USACE correspondence requiring a wetland delineation for the Union 13 project. Johnson said staff had obtained quotes for the wetland delineation and had contracted a firm (referred to in the minutes as Eocene) to complete the fieldwork.

Next steps: county crews will proceed with the bridge construction under the conditions laid out in RC26-85, and the engineer will notify the board if projected costs are expected to exceed the engineer’s estimate.