After Issues That Delayed, Contract Awarded for Kankakee River Dredging

After a nearly two-month delay, the Kankakee County Board finally approved a contract for dredging work in the Kankakee River near the Aroma Park Boat Launch at its Tuesday, October 8, meeting.

Two bids for the project were received during the initial process back in August, but were rejected because one was $400,000 over the engineering estimate for the cost of the project, and the other was ambiguous about whether the bid submitted would cover the cost of dredging work.

Ironically, the same company that was rejected in the initial process for ambiguity ultimately was approved to complete the work. JS McCullough Excavating of Coatsville, Indiana, submitted a new bid in the amount of $712,650. The total cost of the project is covered by a state grant secured by State Sen. Patrick Joyce. Dredging work could begin by the end of October.