BY KEITH LIPPOLDT
klippoldt@gbtribune.com
In past years during asphalt overlay season, Barton County Road and Bridge would purchase aggregates and sand and have it delivered to its South Washington pit. Venture Corporation would come to the site and cold mix up to 25,000 tons on location. The cost to mix was bid at $10.58 per ton, plus the cost of materials. This system worked fairly well but the quality of the asphalt mix would deteriorate towards the bottom of the pile.
Before approving the same plan for this year’s road resurfacing projects, the Commissioners tabled this discussion during their March 4 meeting to enable them to investigate additional ways of mixing and storing the product.
In mid-March, County Works Director Chris Schartz and County administrative staff met with Venture Corporation to devise a better and more cost effective plan.
At the March 25 Commissioners meeting, Schartz reported, “It was determined that the county may save money moving the asphalt preparation to Venture’s site, which is about a mile and a half west of where our pit is currently located, with Venture mixing the asphalt, providing all the aggregates and the sand. They can mix it in bunches, like 5,000 tons, instead of mixing all 25,000 tons at once to where it’s more fresh for us to use. Not all 25,000 tons is sitting at our pit, waiting for us to use it. And they would have purer ingredients than what we are getting now.”
Advantages to changing the plan appeared to be many. Venture would be able to mix at their location, storage and material aging, wear and tear on county equipment, plus labor to move finished product all were factors in the cost.
“It was determined that the County may save money moving to asphalt preparation to Venture’s site, which is about a mile and a half west of where our pit is currently located, with Venture mixing the asphalt, providing all the aggregates and the sand. They can mix it in bunches, like 5,000 tons, instead of mixing all 25,000 tons at once to where it’s more fresh for us to use. Not all 25,000 tons is sitting at our pit, waiting for us to use it. And they would have purer ingredients than what we are getting now.”
After further discussion at the March 25 meeting, Commissioner Barb Esfeld motioned to approve the price of $32 per ton from Venture. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Shawn Hutchinson and it carried 5-0.
Fast forward to Tuesday’s Commission meeting and the initial results of the new process are very positive, according to Schartz’s report to the Commissioners.
“Everything is going great,” Schartz said. “We have, to this point, hauled in 3,345 tons to South Albert. We did a four-mile stretch there. We are now south of Heizer, working to West Barton County Road. Then we’re going to do a stretch south of West Barton County Road to 56 highway. So the operation is going great. It couldn’t be working any better for us right now. We contact them, usually every morning, to let them know what our plan is for the day, because they have to have people out there. So basically, what we try to do is haul in a couple miles of asphalt, and then we’ll lay a couple miles, and then it’s kind of a reoccurring process. We’ve had absolutely no issues.”
Schartz said it takes between 600-700 tons of asphalt to overlay a one-mile stretch of road.
Commissioner Donna Zimmerman asked Schartz how the they were doing, timewise, compared to years past. Schartz replied in the past three years they have not started overlay projects until June. This year they began May 1.
“So it’s all worked out wonderfully, and the communication has been great,” he said. “And doing it earlier helps in our sealing process, because we can seal sooner when it’s warmer out, as opposed to when it’s starting to get cooler. And the hotter it is, the more that the aggregate goes into the oil, which only helps the sealing process. So it’s definitely an advantage to start earlier.”
Commissioner Duane Reif was pleased with Schartz’s initial report.
“This is really impressive,” he said. “I know a lot of times you’re doing the same thing in the fall, September and October. You’ve got cold product and you’ve got cold weather, and it’s not going to warm up anymore. It’s good to hear that it’s going so well. And it’s probably going to last longer, too.”
Schartz is aware of the frustrations drivers face when they get stuck in traffic due to roadwork. He suggests if you need to be traveling in the county and are unsure of potential construction delays or closures, visit the Barton County website - www.bartoncounty.org - and check for road closures.
“I know it’s a pain for the public to have to go around this but, just like they have work to do, we have to get our work done,” Schartz said. “We’re willing to work with you. We will help you get in if you need to get into a field or something. We have to take advantage of the weather, but we will definitely help you out. Some days, we have fresh oil on the ground and we don’t want to mess up your vehicles. All you have to do is look on our website and and you will see what roads we’re working on at the time.”
No other items were on the agenda.
