Elkhart County opens bids for two Stony Creek bridge replacements, staff to review

The Elkhart County Board of Commissioners on June 29 opened competitive bids for two bridge projects over Stony Creek and authorized county staff to review the offers and return with a recommendation.

Kyle Wagner of the county Highway Department presented details on Bridge 193, located east of Millersburg, describing the work as a local-funds superstructure replacement. Wagner listed four bidders and read amounts as recorded in the meeting transcript; the transcript’s numeric formatting is unclear, so the county will report final verified bid amounts when staff returns with its recommendation. Wagner then presented Bridge 347, south of Millersburg, as a full replacement of a three-span reinforced-concrete-deck bridge; both projects were described as targeted for completion by the end of the year.

"A little bit of information about Bridge 193. It is east of Millersburg," Wagner said, summarizing the project scope and funding source. He asked the board to allow staff to accept, review and come back with a recommendation. Commissioners approved the request unanimously.

The bids read into the record named Milestone Contractors, Leaport Construction, RL McCoy Incorporated and Rereath Riley Construction Company for Bridge 193 and the same set of firms for Bridge 347. Because some dollar amounts in the meeting record appear garbled (for example, strings reported in the transcript such as "641,29189" and "575,5840"), this article lists the bidders and will rely on the county’s finalized bid tabulation for exact contract figures.

The board took no award decisions at the meeting; the action recorded was procedural authorization for staff review. The Highway Department will return to the commissioners with a recommendation based on the bid tabulation, contract compliance and funding availability.