After opening four bids on April 30, the Saline County Commission took them under advisement regarding Saline Junction Water Distribution System Improvements.
A release from the commission says the lowest bid was very close to the engineer’s estimated costs of $2,513,807. The lowest bid came from Hettinger Excavating, LLC, of Drexel, for $2,542,685.50. The second lowest bid of $2,580,435 came from C & S Companies, of New London. Other bids were Earthworks Excavating – $2,703,360.57 and J & N Utilities – $3,749,315.
After checking over the bids and performing a reference check of the low bidder, Rich Rhodes, Project Engineer of Rhodes Engineering Company, recommended the commission award the bid to Hettinger Excavating, Inc. The Saline County Commission unanimously approved the recommendation.
Construction for the project will begin in approximately three weeks from May 1, and will have a 340-calendar-day substantial completion time limit. The project includes approximately eight miles of waterline, a pump station and five major highway bores under Interstate 70, U.S. Highway 65 and U.S. Highway 41.
The purpose of the project is to provide adequate water supply and fire protection to the U.S. Highway 65 and Interstate 70 development area, and also serve the customers of PWSD No. 3 of Saline County.
The project also will provide water supply to the 250,000-gallon elevated water storage tank located east of the Interstate 70 and U.S. Highway 65 intersection that is nearing completion of construction.
The funding for the project is coming from the county’s economic development half-cent sales tax that was passed in April 2018.