STEPHENS COUNTY — An important step in the construction of the new Stephens County High School has been taken.

The Stephens County Board of Education voted Tuesday to award the grading and paving contract for the project to Ace Grading Company of Dawsonville, Ga.

Tadd Swartz, project manager for Ace Grading, said workers are ready to start.

“We are ready to roll,” Swartz said. “It is exciting. You come to a pre-bid and you see your competition and finally get to the bid opening, it is a little nerve-racking. But, when you hear your name as the low bidder, it is even more exciting.”

The Ace Grading bids totaled $1.78 million.

The school board vote is contingent on the approval of the construction manger for the project, Bowen and Watson.

Keith Watson of Bowen and Watson said nearly 400,000 yards of dirt needs to be moved to begin the construction process. The next step, he said, is that the bid package must be evaluated.

“We go back, evaluate, make sure everything is complete in the bid package we received and turn that over to the owner and recommend (whether) they (should) proceed with it,” Watson said. “Hopefully, we will get that proceed order, get ready to start, and within a couple of weeks, have the contractor out there going to work.”

Good news that came out of the bid opening, Watson said, is the first bids in the multimillion-dollar project came in lower then expected.

“Actually, the numbers came in better than expected,” he said. “We are very happy with the results of the bid.”

The bid includes all of the cutting and filling in the grading process as well as all the paving and curb and gutter. The total cost to construct the school is estimated to be $38 million, officials said.