Choctaw County’s roads were in pretty bad condition when Garry Grantham was hired as Public Works director a little over a year ago. Getting them into shape became his number one priority. But with the limited budget he was given to work with, it seemed like an impossible task.
Before coming to Choctaw County, Garry Grantham had worked in a neighboring county where he had witnessed a demonstration of a remarkable machine he was certain could revolutionize road repairs there. The county commissioners, however, didn’t see the benefit to the machine at the time and wouldn’t spend the money.
But when he moved to his new county and saw the huge task before him, he knew immediately the tool he had to have to get the job done.
Once Garry explained the benefits of this machine and how much it was going to save them in time and money, the county commission agreed to a demonstration.
The machine chosen by Garry was the Asphalt Zipper®, a revolutionary machine, made in America, engineered to attach to the bucket of a front-end loader or backhoe and pulverize asphalt full-depth into reusable material. This process of pulverizing the road surface and mixing it with the base is called Full-Depth Reclamation or FDR.
Many engineers prefer this pulverized material to new because it grades smoothly and packs tightly providing a sturdy foundation for the new surface.
Because the demonstration proved all of Garry’s claims, the county signed a letter of intent formally approving the purchase of this machine at the very next Commission meeting. This was a big leap of faith for a county with a small tax base.
Now, several months and several repaired roads later, Garry said commissioners from the county where he used to work have been coming to visit him to discover why his roads are looking so good.
Garry only uses a three-man repair crew to service the 4 districts within his county. When he has a repair request, he loads his crew into his truck and, with his Zipper in tow, travels to the repair area. The district in which he is working furnishes his crew with a loader, grader and compactor.
They pulverize the damaged area full depth, grade it and compact it. Where needed, they mix in Portland cement to further stabilize the roadbed. When his crew is done the district will chip seal the finished road for a smooth riding surface.
Using this process, Garry has also been able to widen several narrower roads by a foot or so. This also stabilizes the shoulders making them safer.
Are his roads improving? Each year the DOT comes through and grades the condition of each main road. During last year’s inspection, one road received a dismal 64, a failing grade. But after applying his full-depth buy levitra reclamation process and topping it off with chip seal, it then earned an 87 that will be raised to a 93 after it has been striped.
Why does Choctaw County use chip seal instead of asphalt? Good question. After FDR and compaction, the road base is often so solid that chip seal is all it needs. But the biggest reason is savings. He has discovered that with the high cost of asphalt and fuel, he can repair more roads using chip seal. His records show he saves over $10,000 per mile using chip seal instead of asphalt!
OK, so how much does the FDR process actually save the county of Choctaw? Garry explained it like this:
“We recently rehabilitated a road 3.3 miles long. Total cost was around $140,000 including chip seal. (About $42,424 per mile) An estimate was prepared for a 6-mile stretch on the same type of road to be resurfaced with Federal Aid Funding. It was approximately $1,000,000! (About $166,666 per mile) All things being equal,” he said, “the FDR process will save the county almost 75% or nearly $125,000 per mile of roadway being resurfaced!”
Another very important benefit of using this process is that the base under the road will be improved, thereby extending the life of the new road surface.
Garry also mentioned that because they are saving so much money on road repairs, they now have funds they can use elsewhere. It has freed up money to purchase other equipment.
Is Choctaw County, Alabama happy using the full-depth reclamation process to repair their roads? “This is one of the best investments we’ve ever made,” said Garry Grantham smiling.