Spikes in fuel prices have inflated by more than 14 percent how much Warren County will have to pay to replace a relief bridge on Redbone Road, officials said.

A contract to build a new bridge on Redbone and Paces Bayou off U.S. 61 South at the city limits, went to Laurel-based Magco Inc. The firm’s low bid of $510,845.62 beat an offer by Madison-based Key LLC but outpaced the estimated $434,627.62 construction cost. Key, which built the new Yazoo River bridge in Redwood and is replacing the Haining Road bridge at the Port of Vicksburg, bid $573,827.25.

Carey Webb of the Mississippi Department of Transportation’s Office of State Aid Road Construction said the cost reflected the gas price hikes felt nationwide.

“We had not put any bid specs out since the price of gas went up,” Webb told the board Monday after bids were read. Work on Redbone is expected to begin this month and last 90 working days. Details on detours were to be finalized at a later date.

State aid funds for Warren County from MDOT totaled $1,263,987.22 this fiscal year, up about 13.5 percent from last year but down about 19 percent since 2006. Road maintenance money is available to all 82 Mississippi counties based on size and population.

Board President Richard George said the county’s four-year plan for road and bridge improvements will proceed despite likely higher costs from the price of gas.

“We’d be hard-pressed to stop,” George said. “When you think about road maintenance, that’s about as basic as you can get.”

The bridge on Redbone was one of seven projects on the list estimated to cost at least $400,000. Two sets of bridges, one at Rawhide Road and relief bridges at Fisher Ferry Road and the Big Black River, are in construction phases. Repairs to shorter bridges inside the city at Wood Street, Avenue D and the rail bridge at Baldwin Ferry Road follow on the list, the first two estimated at $129,276 and the third at $250,000. Costs for those three are subject to rise with fuel prices, though engineers and supervisors could choose to delay the work for a better market environment.

The price of a gallon of regular gas this morning was $3.49 at most Vicksburg stations as the cost of a barrel of oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange was about $105.