BARRHEAD - County of Barrhead council approved additional funding to pay for additional shoulder pull work.
Councillors unanimously approved the $5,050 expenditure during their Aug. 19 meeting. The money will come from the 2025 budget.
Infrastructure director Ken Hove said public works needed the money to pay Stuber's Cat Service for an additional half mile of shoulder pulls the contractor completed on Project 661.
A shoulder pull is a process that involves shoulder and ditch dirt being bladed to the middle of the road for tilling, making it easier for road crews to grade, pack, and gravel. The process also helps give a road its proper profile, providing a moisture-shedding crown essential to gravel roads.
Hove said this year, public works had budgeted to complete 11.5 miles or 18.5 kilometres of shoulder pulls, including four miles or 6.4 kilometres on Range Road 41, three miles or 4.8 kilometres on Township Road 612 and 4.5 miles or roughly 7.2 kilometres on Township Road 602, between Range Roads 50A and 55.
In the 2025 Budget, council set aside $195,000 to complete the shoulder pulls.
In May, the council selected Stuber's Cat Service Ltd. for the work for $116,115, or approximately $10,100 per mile, or 1.6 kilometres.
Hove said that in preparation for the work, this winter, public works staff carried out mulching and brushing on segments of the roads that were to be rehabilitated.
"The contractor extended the shoulder pull to extend with the brushing previously conducted by the county, resulting in an additional half mile of shoulder pull work," he said, adding the cost of the extra work is $5,050.
Hove stated in the agreement that the municipality reserved the right to adjust the total length of the shoulder pulls by up to three miles, or 4.8 kilometres.
"The extra half mile of shoulder pull work at $5,050 is very cost-effective," he said. "The work they carried out was beneficial to the roadway and was completed satisfactorily."
Hove also noted that even after adding the extra distance, the entire project will still come in below budget by $74,300, recommending that the council approve the additional expense.
"It sounds like the contractor made an assumption about what was needed," Coun. Walter Preugschas said.
Hove agreed, saying the brushing crew stopped at an intersection because it was easier to turn around.
"They went the next half mile. It was still on good high ground, and what they did was still good value, and we are still below budget," he said.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
