Keokuk, IA – Keokuk will accept bids on May 3 for the reconstruction of about 12 blocks of Grand Avenue. The $3-million project also calls for the replacement of about 5000' of combined sewer lines running beneath the street.
The project is expected to get underway in mid-May. The bid documents call for substantially completion within 95-working days.
A working day is basically a day that weather or other circumstances does not keep the contractors off the job site. The city and its engineers would make that determination.
The Keokuk City Council's Streets Committee has decided to alter the bid documents. The panel wants to see a firm completion date of Friday, November 19 for the street, the sidewalks, and the driveways.
Public Works Director Gerald Moughler says this could benefit local contractors by giving them more time to finish the job, if they get the bid and the weather is good.
Several local contractors questioned the city and its engineers about the 95-working day timeline during a pre-bid meeting.
The Streets Committee also wants to see the daily penalties for exceeding the November 19 deadline increase from $200 to $500.
The Keokuk City Council could award a contract for the Grand Avenue project during its meeting on Thursday, May 16. That meeting could also be used to award a contract for several smaller projects in downtown Keokuk.
The Keokuk City Council wanted to have its Finance Committee review the bids for the 2010 projects in the city's multi-year, multi-million dollar street reconstruction program.
The Finance Committee has reviewed the bids and is recommending the council move forward with the projects. The list includes several blocks of Blondeau, 4th, and High Streets.
The Finance Committee did not want to cut projects that had already been bid on. The panel is also concerned about construction costs jumping this spring and summer.
Keokuk will have to borrow $1.2-million.