Why are they working my road again?

By: Tim Robson; DGLVR Specialist.
In this week’s column we are bring you the second of what will be 4 articles this year, all of which will focus on the different seasons of Municipal maintenance. We will explain what you may see going on in your township and why. After all, in know many of us have wondered why are the doing what they are doing? This of course is a general overview and may very depending on municipality. Everyone does things a little different. I will simply explain the process from my view as a former Road Forman and current Dirt and Gravel Road Specialist here at the Bradford County Conservation District. For this first article we will focus on the upcoming spring maintenance season.  

---

​Most crews are thinking of or at least hoping to start spring maintenance by April 15th. This of course is dependent upon weather and road conditions and the amount of frost in the road base, which over the winter can really wreak havoc on road systems. One major factor how frost affects the road the spring thaw and how fast it happens. 10” of thawed road material on top of a frozen road base quickly turns into a giant soup bowl.
So, let’s look at the maintenance priorities for spring.

First priority: Grading of gravel roads to correct the following issues

1. Wheel ruts
2. Water cuts/washing
3. Potholes
4. Reincorporating segregated (lose material) on edges of road.
5. Repairing road shoulders damaged by water or snow removal
6. Re-establish lost road crown to help restore proper drainage.
   

​Ditch shaping and shoulder cutting:

1. Repairing of eroded ditches to original or functioning condition. This is sometimes only spot work, as early in the spring many ditches may still be too wet to work in without causing more issues.
2. Some road crews will take the time to remove access berm material between the road surface and the road ditch. (often done ahead of actual grading)  This buildup of material consists of road cinders/antiskid from winter as well as dirt, leaves and other debris and quickly grows grass in the spring creating a ridge that prevents water from getting into the road ditch, or from sheeting off the road where possible. This berm material is of little use and has no place being graded back into the road surface as it usually turns to mud and eventually dust. Crews will use a combination of methods for removing this material before the roads are graded making the actual grading process go quicker and produce a better finished product. This may not need to be done every year depending on road conditions.
3. Evaluation of road surfaces: This is an important time for the road foremen and supervisors to be out evaluating road surface needs. They will make note of roads that have significant drainage issue, failing cross pipes and areas that need additional road material. This is an important process as estimated #’s are needed so that according to the $ amount, work can be prioritized, and materials acquired.
4. An interesting note: some wonder why it takes a while for a township to get to their particular road…#1. Once a crew starts in an area, it is very inefficient to pick up and move all the necessary equipment to another area in the municipality. It is most efficient to start in one area and methodically work their way to the rest of the township. #2 It takes time to do a good job! Depending on equipment and manpower available along with the # of hours worked in a day, it can take a while to get to every road. Usually, a good 4-6 weeks depending on weather. A good crew without other issues or interruptions can grade from 1-3 miles of road per day in good conditions. Take a municipality with 60 miles of gravel roads, in a perfect world they might do 3 miles a day, so 20 days would do it or 4 weeks. Add into that, break downs, weather and road issues in other areas that need addressed other than grading and you quickly will spend 5-6 weeks minimum grading roads. Keep in mind that to properly grade a road, the grader is going to make 6-8 passes on each mile of road at a not very fast pace, after that the stone rake and/or roller will do the same. This all adds up to a large amount of time spent to ensure that your roads are in good shape and safe to drive on. Honestly, some road crews seem to do an impossible amount of work in a year’s time when you consider everything that has to be done. It truly takes a talented and ambitious crew of operators to manage and implement all aspects of municipal road maintenance and to do it proficiently.
5. For municipalities with tar and chip or paved roads, (yet another aspect of road maintenance) they will also evaluate what areas may need patched, crack sealed or resurfaced so that they can bid/schedule the work for the coming summer season and let’s not forget dust oil. Everyone wants their dust oil and this is best applied after the spring grading is done. One thing you might want to remember, moisture is generally more prevalent in the spring. So a late application of Dust oil is not necessarily a bad thing as it may end up lasting longer into the sometimes long and dusty fall season.

 
These are just some of the challenges faced by your local municipality. I hope this give you a better understanding of the process of maintaining municipal roads. As always, if you happen to come across your local road crew, be sure to tell them thank you for taking care of the roads that take you safely out into the world.
 
The Bradford County Conservation District is committed to helping people manage resources wisely.  You can visit the Bradford County Conservation District at 200 Lake Rd in Wysox across from the Wysox Fire Hall. Contact us at (570) 485-3144 or visit our web page at www.bccdpa.com.