The Washington County Board of Supervisors awarded a contract for a bridge replacement on Juniper Avenue during their meeting Tuesday.

County Engineer Jacob Thorius presented three bids to the board for the replacement of a bridge two miles east of Brighton with a new twin reinforced concrete box culvert. Bids came in at $240,684.43 from Iowa Bridge and Culvert, $294,587.50 from Peterson Contractors of Reinbeck, and $308,511.50 from TK Concrete of Pella. Thorius said Iowa Bridge and Culvert’s bid amount was approximately the cost he expected for the project, and he recommended the board’s approval for the lowest bid. The contracted late start date is August 29, 2022 with 45 scheduled working days. In other business, Thorius informed the supervisors that his grant application for the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program was not approved. Thorius submitted his project among others in an application from the Iowa Department of Transportation and Iowa County Engineering Association to help reconstruct eight selected bridges across the state including the Skunk River Bridge on County Road W21. One billion dollars was available from this federal program, and the only project in Iowa that received funds was the City of Clinton for a bridge and road project. Thorius applied to have 70% of the project funded.