Blacktopping held up well over winter, commissioners report

Friday, March 4, 2005

CHARLESTON - Mississippi County's chip and seal blacktop stood up well over the winter, according to the county's commissioners - as long as the foundation was there.

With spring a couple of weeks away, commissioners turned their attention to the county's roads during their regular meeting Thursday.

"With that chip and seal, it's got to be done the proper way or no way," Presiding Commissioner Jim Blumenberg said.

Commissioners agreed the process, which soaks a thin layer of gravel with sealing oil to create blacktop, was successful in many places around the country. "There's a place for that chip and seal for sure," said Commissioner Homer Oliver.

"I'm pretty well pleased with the way it turned out," Blumenberg said.

In places where holes were not properly patched, however, the surface has come apart.

"That preparation is everything," said Oliver.

Commissioner Martin Lucas said hand tamping material into holes instead of just backing a truck over it would give better results on patches.

Chip and seal on Mount Level Road, commissioners agreed, did not hold up well either as the road was too far gone to provide a solid base. "We didn't have too much to work with," Blumenberg said.

"But it's a better road than it was," Oliver added.

Even a hole under two inches deep can create problems for chip and seal as gravel rocks under the surface layer do not get exposed to oil and bond into blacktop, commissioners explained.

Blumenberg said crews should not rush road surface preparation but should spend a couple days patching and preparing the surface for the overlay.

Other areas that got less than satisfactory results were the result of too thick of a layer of pea gravel. Lucas said he believes chat is a better gravel to use for the chip-and-seal process than pea gravel because chat has irregular surfaces that bond with the oil better.

Commissioners also discussed places for this year's cold mix asphalt projects and other road maintenance issues such as using fill dirt to build up low shoulders on roads around the county.

The discussion on directing motor road grader operators to eliminate ridges bordering gravel roads around the county was continued as well.

The county is not in a race to grade the roads, Blumenberg said. "We just need them done right."

Blumenberg said he can't see any harm in accidentally getting some grass bladed in with the gravel while rolling it back to the center from the edges.

Any grass mixed in with the gravel just dries up and eventually blows away, Lucas agreed.

"Understand, all our people know how to grade a road," Oliver said. Commissioners agreed the operators simply don't want to spend the extra time on each road.

In other Mississippi County business Thursday:

* Commissioners agreed to arrange a meeting with Bill Green of Green and Associates, the engineering firm for the rural water district project, to discuss complaints from county residents.

Commissioners said engineers for the water district project promised to fix problems caused during the installation of water system lines such as cut driveways and damaged landscaping.

"That project is close to being done," Blumenberg noted.

The closing Community Development Block Grant public hearing for the county rural water district project was also held.

* The number of Immigration and Naturalization Service prisoners at the Mississippi County Detention Center is up to 74 after starting the week with only 18.

Commissioners said they need days with 60-70 prisoners to offset days when the number is low.

The possibility of getting INS prisoners from southern Illinois was also discussed. "It might be our salvation," Oliver said.

*The fixed base operators of the county airport will need to secure new insurance as their previous company has not renewed their policy, according to commissioners.

* County Clerk Junior DeLay said he would check on a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development grant to purchase some law enforcement vehicles.

* Commissioners discussed beaver dam locations in ditches around the county to send the "beaver man" after. The county pays the trapper for each beaver removed from county ditches.

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