County engineer Larry Britt reports on ongoing projects

County engineer Larry Britt and Justin Hall, with the Marshall County Industrial Development Authority, teamed up to report on ongoing projects related to the Eddie and Maxine Dixon Medic Station in the Chickasaw Trail and a handful of projects related to the Battery Plant construction site, at the June 2 meeting of the Board of Supervisors.

Britt said rip rap has been used to repair damage to the banks of the Tippah River Bridge on the Bethlehem end where four-wheelers played on the banks. The ERBR project on Bethlehem Road on the West end at “Goat Bridge” is the remaining bridge to be replaced in this Mississippi Department of Transportation road and bridge project.

The Eddie and Maxine Dixon Medic Station on Cayce Road is close to being finished, with a punch list being made of things that remain to be done. The board approved pay request number 14 from Fulwood Construction for $254,977. Britt said there is about $200,000 left in the project.

New appliances and extractors are being put in the station with completion date for the county to take over the building coming up soon.

Britt said the architect and county administrator Tim Powell will go over the punch list and a completion date will be set. The exhaust system at the substation is being tested and a generator retrofitted for the extractor is being installed. Fulwood, the contractor, wanted a substantial date of completion set the last week in May so a certificate of completion can be issued.

Britt listed work in progress at the Battery Plant site.

Pay request #1 for Phase 2B for construction of an elevated water tank was submitted for $201,718 by Caldwell Tank Inc.

Pay request #2 on Phase 2A for water wells was submitted by Donald Smith Inc, well contractor for $917,639. Two wells were drilled to supply water to the plant site.

Hall said the location of a frontage road to be paid for by the Mississippi Department of Transportation continues to be changed by MDOT.

He said MDOT has changed the location several times.

“My thought is they have to find a temporary access road before construction and they will need temporary and permanent easements of access,” Hall said. “They have everything in order and laid out by mid-June.”

The extension of Knox Road will require a separate memorandum of understanding and the right-of-way is in good order,” Hall said.

He said neither the county or MDOT had planned on the Knox Road extension but the project was budgeted for Coopwood Road improvements. The MOU will outline all the legal language and define who will do what, Hall said.

“MDOT deals with MDOT right-of-way and temporary easements are growing,” he said. “It's a lot of moving parts, but the money is there for it.”

District 2 supervisor Johnny Walker said there are some soft spots in one of the roads leading to the plant.

“Who's in charge of fixing that?” he asked.

Britt said on June 12 bids will be taken on 3A north of the roundabout. Bids will be taken for the gas project and for paving.

Hall said the contractor wants more formal language because the road is not public yet. The contractor wants it to be safe and secure on the completion of roads 5A and 7B, he said.

Britt said MDOT is still working with the county on completion of Del Stover Road.

“It's nothing but a hassle up there. It's costing us money,” Britt said. “That was a DIP grant, the last of Project Zeus.”

Britt said there is some contingency money left and the biggest changes at the interchange are signage MDOT is making the county add on Del Stover where it ends at the old Kellogg plant on Highway 72.

Britt is concerned that stress relief needs to be added over the soil cement before five inches of asphalt is put down.

“Nobody does that stress relief anymore,” he said. “But there is some money left in the project that could be used to put in a stress relief layer, a thin layer put over soil cement that will keep cracks from showing up in the top layer of asphalt.”

Or another option may be to put down five inches of asphalt and do away with the stress relief layer, Britt said. So far the surface has not shown much cracking.

He said he needs guidance on which way to go on the project, to save a little money to do what MDOT wants to do.

District 1 supervisor Charles Terry said it looks like the project may be getting into the county's pocket where these changes are being considered.

“It's not costing them, it's costing us,” said Walker.

“What would stress relief consist of?” asked District 4 supervisor George Zinn III.

Britt said county road manager Mario Jeffries would put down 3091 CRSP and 126 cubic yard size 56 on top of the soil cement which would cost about $15,000, not including county labor. The asphalt then would go down over that.

“So, if the county does DBST, then,” Zinn said.

Britt said the contractor is paying for five inches of asphalt and if Jeffries puts down the stress layer the road will hold up. There is about 2,400 feet of road to protect.

He said if you do not put down the stress layer, cracks that appear in the soil cement will show up in the asphalt layer over time.

“Would it be beneficial to do it?” Terry asked.

“Most definitely,” Walker said. “The state's costing us $15,000.” “The thicker the asphalt, the less likely it will crack,” Britt said.

The board passed a motion to have Jeffries put down the stress layer with four votes in approval, and Zinn voting against the measure.

Hall said there is a stretch of road between Roxul Drive and Gateway Global that has not been accepted by the county.

He said the company will repair anything on the road and then turn it over to the county.