Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1921-01-26
ALL PAVING BIDS
WERE REJECTED
Allamakee County Board of Super
yisors Considered Bids Too High,
and May Abandon Project
for This Year
LOWEST BID WAS
S3.s4k FOR CONCRETE
Under Lowest Bid Submitted the Cost
of All Work Would be Brought
Up to Nearly S5S,00O Per
Mile

Mile
! tFrom Waukon Republican StandaIl
The first bids on primary road paw
ing projects in Iowa this year were
opened here last Thursday by the
Board of Supervisors of Allamakee
county. Eight construction firms sub
mitted their bids on the project of
paving two sections of the primary
road system of Allamakee, aggregst-
ling nearly seven miles !
1t was the first project opened in
the state this year and one of only
three such projects in the entire
state yet to be let this season, hence
Unusual interest developed. A large
number of contractors were on hand
just nosing around, who submitted no
bids. Then there were a lot of special
contractors looking for sub-letting
jobs. Others were statesmen anxious
to be on the ground floor to take
orders for all kinds of road making
machinery from any bidder who
imight land contract.
All bids were rejected except that
of Chas. Weitz & Sons of Des Moin-
es, which was the lowest on both
projects, and which the Board OF
Supervisors took under consideration
for time and then decided to re-
ject it also. Their bid of 3.S4ha per
square yard on the Postville Waukon
project and $4041a on the Waukon-
Lansing road for concrete paving
called for all materials to be fur
nished by the contractors. At the re-
quest of the board this bid was re-
vised to permit the county to furnish
the gravel, of which there is an
abundance near at hand in this coun-
ty, thus lowering the bid slightly.
Bids on concrete paving ran as high
as SAL for the Postville road and
S4.66 for the Lansing road and the
the highest bid submitted das $500
for brick paving.
The other seven bidders were:
Allied Contractors, Inc, Omaha,
Neb
National Clay Works, Mason City
tile work only.
. Leckliter Davis Construction Co.,
Des Moines.
Moore Young, Waterloo.
Harrison Transport, Des Moines.
The Cement Products Co., Water
loo.
Dearborn Construction Co., Water
loo.
Under the lowest bid submitted the
cost of hard surfacing alone would
reach close to $4,000 per mile, in
addition to $1,000 per mile for
grading and another $4,000 for TIL
ing, bringing the total up to ap-
Iproximately $58,000 per mile. 1t is
the belief of the Board that con-
tractors are basing their estimates on
1920 work and that another year, IL
mot later date this season will see
big drop which will save thous-
ands of dollars to land owners in
the paving districts.
1t is evident that none of the con-
tractors were particularly anxious 70
land the job, but rather seemed bent
on finding out what the other fellow
was going to do. Unsettled conditions
and doubt as to possible cost of labor
and material made competition in
bidding very light. Only two other
similar projects in the state will be
open for bids this spring, one in
Hancock county and the other in
Floyd county, while other counties
are holding back awaiting results in
these counties. Hence statewide in
terest centered on the bidding in
Anamakee. ~