Work on two replacement bridges in Starke County will begin as soon as possible. The county commissioners Monday accepted bids from LaPorte Construction Company for the bridge on County Road 800 East over Eagle Creek and the bridge on County Road 900 South over Bogus Run. They submitted the lowest of the two bids for both projects. Their bid for the 800 East bridge was $302,099.42, which was more than $21,000 less than LaPorte-based JCI Bridge Group. The same two contractors bid on the 900 South bridge, too. LaPorte Construction Company’s bid for that project was nearly $15,000 less than JCI’s bid. Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler told the commissioners the prices are better than the last set of bids they got – and ultimately rejected – for those bridges. He said they’re still not as competitive as he would like but said that’s a trend statewide right now. Ritzler added there are parts of both projects that the highway department can do internally to save additional money. Both projects should be done sometime in November.
