The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors awarded the contract for three bridge replacements at their meeting Tuesday.

After opening two received bids last week, County Engineer Josh Sebern recommended the Board approve the bid of about $22,278 from Benner Trucking and Dosing, which they approved. Supervisor JD Kuster asked Sebern why there was a significant difference in cost between Benner and a bid of $92,365 from Iowa Trenchless. Sebern said that Iowa Trenchless had most of their cost factored into the removal of the three bridges – two in Orange Township and one in Union Township – but he couldn’t explain beyond that why there was a large difference. The bridges are to be replaced with culverts, which Sebern estimated to cost $50,000 total.

The Board also approved the final plans for a bridge project that is being combined with Cass County in order to receive federal funding. Sebern explained the County will receive about $400,000. A bid letting is planned for October for the project estimated to cost $1.15 million. In his department update, Sebern mentioned that the County’s new no-spray request form has not received as many participants as he would like, since the County took over the program from the state.