Being from a family that has been in the construction/site prep business for over 50 years, I have seen many ways the Commissions highway department is attempting to closely operate like a business.
One of these efforts can be seen below where it explains how a material is being tested that would aide in prolonging the life of one of the most costly assets taxpayers dollars are spent on and that is asphalt for our county roads.
Taking care of what you have and operating efficiently are basic business principals. Just because Elmore County is funded by taxpayer dollars does not mean it can’t operate on basic business principles just as many of my fellow business owners use to operate their businesses on each day.
Please read below about one of these efforts where a Fog Seal is being testing in an attempt to prolong the use of our roads……….
More thoughts to come about my observations over the last 9 months of how our county operates and where we could work towards operating based on proven business principles that would benefit everyone.
Bart..
The Elmore County Highway Department has been proactive in seeking out pavement preservation techniques that can effectively extend the life of our paved roads while stretching the tax dollars that have been entrusted to the County Commission to be managed.
One of these techniques is a fog seal. This week three roads had a fog seal applied by county forces. Castaway Island Rd, Pecan Grove Rd and one of the westbound lanes of Cobb’s Ford Rd were treated with an emulsified liquid asphalt. These roads have varying traffic volumes and will serve as test sites to determine the best uses for this tool on our roads.
At a cost of less than $0.20 per square yard, fog seals are markedly less expensive that other techniques that range from $2-$8 per square yard. Monitoring of the performance of these fog seals will help determine how the county utilizes this tool to extend the life of our paved roads and maximize the return of our citizens tax dollars.
Any questions related to fog seals or other preservation techniques being utilized by Elmore County should be referred to the Elmore County Engineer, Richie Beyer, at wrbechd@elmoreco.org or at 334-567-1162
