At the Jones Creek boat ramp in Carrollton, a “do not enter” sign warns boaters away from the wooden docks.

They need only look a few feet further to see the reason. A portion of the middle dock is collapsing into the water.

Isle of Wight County, which owns the public ramp, solicited repair bids on March 26 but received only one bid in the amount of $584,000 from Carolina Marine Structures Inc. by the April 19 close of the bidding window. The bid was “two to three times higher” than what the county had budgeted, said Assistant County Administrator Don Robertson.

The county canceled the invitation for bids and re-solicited the project on May 6. Isle of Wight received two new bids by the close of the bidding window on May 22.

John K. George & Co., the apparent low bidder, bid $224,910. Carolina also submitted a new bid, knocking its price down to $490,000. The county has yet to choose a bidder.

According to the invitation for bids, the work would include the full replacement of the decking on two of the timber piers, repairs to the timber bents, braces, rendering and handrails, and a small concrete patch poured over the  existing concrete boat ramp to fill the transition to the timber decking. An additional component of the project calls for the installation of two new prefabricated ladders and the reinstallation of floaters to the floating dock.