Four contractors submitted bids to handle the I-beam repair project on the Ben Williamson Bridge linking Coal Grove to Ashland, Ky.

Bids were solicited last week and opened Friday morning.

In mid-May officials with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet discovered that an I-beam in the framework of the structure had been damaged, possibly by a commercial vehicle. Since then the bridge has been shut down with traffic routed onto one lane of the neighboring Simeon Willis Bridge.

The transportation cabinet’s engineering estimate for the project is $66,500. Of the four bids only one came below that.

Evers Welding Co. Inc of Cincinnati sent in a bid of $52,400. Also bidding were Intech Contracting LLC of Lexington at $83,230.01; Hall Contracting of Kentucky Inc., of Louisville at $98,000; and Kay and Kay Contracting LLC of London, Ky., at $152,250.

“We will go through all the bid documents from all the bidders,” Allen Blair, public information officer for the cabinet, said. “We will scrutinize those bids and as soon as possible will award a contract.”