The City of Chadron got good news with the opening of bids for 2 street projects earlier this month: the low bid for each came in under the engineer’s estimate – significantly lower for one of them.
Mark Chrisman Trucking of Gering was awarded a $103,000 contract for repairing the intersection at 6th and Mears Streets that was $16,000 under the engineers estimate.
TopKote Inc of Yankton, SD, was $344 under the engineer’s estimate with its successful $57,000 bid to armor coat Main Street from 3rd to 10th.
     Both winning bids were significantly lower than those of their competitors. The highest of the 3 bids for armor coating, also known as chip-and-seal, was nearly $93,000 while the third bid was just under $80,000.
Chadron received 5 bids for the intersection project, more than city officials had expected. The high bid was $201,000 or about $83,000 more than Chrisman’s winning bid. The others were $172,000; $133,000; and $132,000.
Both projects are scheduled for this summer, with city officials emphasizing that the armor coating project’s 45-day schedule won’t start until after Fur Trade Days.
Armor coating is used to extend the life of asphalt paving that’s still in good shape. Chadron has used it extensively in the past, but not in the last 10-to-15 years.