HERMANN — A Washington company has submitted the lowest of three bids to prepare the section of the Rock Island Trail through much of the unincorporated portion of Gasconade County.

KJ Unnerstall Construction of Washington submitted a bid of $389,545. The other two companies offering to do the work were Central Missouri Excavation of Belle at a cost of $448,143 and Mera Excavating of Bonnets Mill at a cost of $651,700.

The bids were opened during Thursday morning’s session of the County Commission. The estimated cost of the project, as prepared by Howe Company engineering, is $520,027.

The work will involve clearing the trail of brush and trees, add four inches of base rock to the trail and then add what’s referred to as “KATY Blend,” a type of rock for the hiking and biking trail, according to Gasconade County consulting engineer Paul Winkelmann of Howe Company.

The section of trail runs east from the Owensville city limits to near the Soap Creek Bridge close to Rosebud, a length of about 2.8 miles.

KJ Unnerstall completed the nearly 3-mile segment of the trail through the city limits of Owensville this past year. Funding came from a Transportation Alternative Grant (TAP) from the state. The county also plans to use TAP funds for their portion of trail development.

In other matters, the Commission opened bids for a new pickup truck for the Road Department. The county had sought bids for a 2026 Chevrolet Silverado. Eight dealers were notified of the bid solicitation and five responded.

Jim Butler of Centralia submitted a bid of $57,315; Jim Butler of Linn submitted a bid of $50,704; Hutchinson Ford of St. James offered a bid of $66,380. Hermann Ford submitted a bid of $51,833 and Joe Machens of Colulmbia submitted a bid of $60,324.

The bids were to be delivered to the Road Department supervisors for consideration and a recommendation back to the County Commission as to the preferred bidder.