There’s more to paving than asphalt

This week our road crew has been working to prepare one mile of Santa Fe Road north of College Avenue for paving. The county received a grant and citizen donations to improve this section of roadway. However, before asphalt can be applied, much preparation must take place.
 
This includes mining shale from a pit in Cashion so it can be applied to the road base for stabilization. Early this month District 1 rented a Bomag recycler for this purpose.
 
After shale is cut from the pit, it is loaded into dump trucks and transported to the job site. Once it is deposited on the roadway, a grader operator spreads the material and another equipment operator compacts it with a roller.
 
This process is repeated until all the soft areas of the road base are firm enough to cover with asphalt. Ditches are cut to improve drainage, and tinhorns, or culverts, are placed across the roadway as needed. This requires the use of a backhoe, and again, an operator.
 
Preparing Santa Fe and other roads for paving requires many hours of labor and a lot of helping hands. Before tangible work can even begin, paperwork must be processed.
 
First of all, someone had to apply for the grant. That required clerical help. Once the grant was awarded, the project had to go to bid. That required the services of the county clerk’s office. Once the bid was awarded by the commissioners, purchase orders had to be made and processed so that fuel, shale, tinhorns and equipment were available for use. Once the road is paved, (and that is a process in itself), vendors have to be paid. That means more paperwork.
 
So… the next time you have the opportunity to drive on a newly paved surface, please take a moment to appreciate the efforts of so many who helped make it possible.
 
Mark Sharpton
Commissioner
District 1
282.3581