Road, bridge work scheduled


Thursday, June 21, 2007
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Road, bridge work scheduled

By SUE WATSON
Staff Writer

Photo by Sue Watson

Discussing District 4 projects
From right, Larry Britt, George Zinn and Larry Hall meet with Lehman-Roberts representatives.

With much left to get done this year in road and bridge business, the dry weather has not been a blessing. Nor would extremely wet summers be a blessing for construction, said Larry Hall, county administrator and manager of the road and bridge department.

Two state-aid funded road overlay projects in District 4 are being scheduled, according to county engineer Larry Britt. He and supervisor George Zinn III met with Hall and contractors with Lehman-Roberts to schedule work on Marianna Road. Pending good weather, overlay of about 3.3 miles of Marianna was to begin this week and will take about two weeks to complete, Britt said. The stretch of overlay begins at Marianna Store and ends just past Pegues Road. The work involves leveling, overlay, application of gravel to the shoulders and striping.

Work on St. Paul Road in District 4 is being held back because of four right-of-way deeds, Britt said.

“We need four rights-of-way before this can be put out to bid,” Britt said.

The stretch on St. Paul that is covered under this state-aid project consists of about 1.3 miles of overlay on St. Paul beginning at Victoria West to Bennett Circle North.

“We appreciate the patience of those who have already signed right-of-way deeds,” said Zinn. “The county needs these four deeds before the project can be bid and worked. The money is sitting there, all survey work is done and all under-the-road pipes are located. It’s not the supervisors, it’s not the engineers, it’s not the road manager holding this up. It’s the four property owners.”

The twin bridges on O’Dell Road near Blackwater Road are also closed. Tearing out and construction of new bridges could begin in August. The bridges won’t likely be finished for six months, given good weather conditions, according to Hall. Bid opening for the project is July 16.

Work to replace the bridge below Waterford in District 5 probably won’t get underway until August, Britt said. The spans for the bridge have to be have to be precast by the bridge part supplier.

Overlay on a portion of Strickland Road in District 3 is complete. Supervisors approved a transfer and change order on the project for $12,000 in cost overrun due to prices of asphalt and gravel.

Other projects working by county crews include setting up for paving on Mason Road, and clearing of rights-of-way and trees on Davis and Farley roads. Segments have been overlaid on Barringer Road and grade and drain and base work is ongoing in preparation for paving on Cooper Road.

With dirt bone dry, Hall said road crews were having trouble getting soil ready for paving. And road primers may have to be changed over in July due to the flash-point of kerosene based primers, Hall said.

The board approved a $7,000 purchase of a used water truck to add to the county’s fleet of two old clunkers - one a 1965 fire truck and the other a tanker trailer. The tanks are used to prepare roads for compaction to stabilize the road base.

“It’s just like making biscuits,” Hall said. “Water is needed to make things stick together.”

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