Jasper County Courthouse

TNT Tuckpointing was called in to complete and repair the masonry restoration of the historic Jasper County Courthouse after the original low-bid contractor failed to complete the project and went out of business. Despite significant challenges left by the previous firm, TNT successfully delivered a high-quality, lasting solution.

The lowest bid is not always the best value.

Client

Jasper County

Design Professional

Shive Hattery

General Contractor

Shive Hattery

Market

Government

Historical

Location

Newton, Iowa

The Problem

‍

The Jasper County Courthouse restoration was originally awarded to a low-bid contractor who performed poor-quality work and eventually went out of business. This failure forced the bonding company to step in and hire us to complete the project at a cost more than $100,000 higher than the original contract. While the county was spared direct financial loss, the courthouse was left in disrepair for far longer than intended, and the resolution required significant legal and administrative resources. What should have been a one-year project was delayed substantially before we were able to restore the landmark to the quality it deserved.

‍

No items found.

Our Approach

‍

Our team was brought in to salvage the project under the direction of a Shive-Hattery–designed repair plan. We began work at the very start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which introduced challenges no contractor had ever faced before—evolving safety protocols, sudden material shortages, shipping delays, and labor uncertainties. Despite these obstacles, our focus remained on:

‍

Navigating difficult access issues on the historic structure.
Completing the extensive unfinished work left behind by the previous contractor.
Repairing and redoing defective work to meet both professional standards and Shive-Hattery’s design intent.

Adapting to an unpredictable supply chain and constantly changing jobsite conditions required flexibility and resourcefulness. The reduced public presence during the early pandemic created a unique opportunity, allowing us to safely accelerate portions of the project even as we balanced the challenges of working in unprecedented circumstances.