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Rain puts County's road maintenance program behind schedule

The County of Barrhead Public Works department is trucking along with its road maintenance program, although the rain has put crews behind schedule. As of July 18, Public Works was about 70 per cent of the way through its gravel program.

The County of Barrhead Public Works department is trucking along with its road maintenance program, although the rain has put crews behind schedule.

As of July 18, Public Works was about 70 per cent of the way through its gravel program. Crews have spread 7,644 yards of gravel in Division 1, and spent $194,935.56 of the budgeted $212,100 for that work.

In Division 2, a total of 9,488 yards of gravel have been used, and $130,264.32 of the budgeted $185,000 has been spent.

In Division 3, a total of 6,971 yards of gravel have been used, and $94,055.48 of the budgeted $218,700 has been spent.

In Division 4, a total of 5,853 yards of gravel have been used, and $77,923.27 of the budgeted $195,100 has been spent.

In Division 5, a total of 1,242 yards of gravel have been used, and $16,146 of the budgeted $205,700 has been spent.

In Division 6, a total of 2,148 yards of gravel have been used, and $28,511.98 of the budgeted $211,800 has been spent.

In Division 7, a total of 4,672 yards of gravel have been used, and $62,649.86 of the budgeted $172,800 has been spent.

The costs also incorporate other variables such as work done to culverts and the cost associated with use and maintenance of equipment.

Public Works assistant superintendent Ken Hove said generally it takes 10 days for his crews to get around to blade and fill holes on County roads; however, the heavy rain has had a serious impact and employees are having difficulty keeping up with work.

“We’ve had quite a few calls, and we try to explain to residents that it’s due to the weather,” Hove said. “Hopefully, residents bear with us.”

Crews last week were finishing up work on Township Road 615A in Barr-head and Township Road 594 in Neerlandia. Several kilometres of road were paved in both projects, and a final inspection was expected as of July 22. The total cost for paving Township Road 615A was $1.575 million, with $1.365 million provided through the County’s Municipal Sustainability Initiative grant. A total of 3.2 km on Township Road 615A was paved. The total cost of the Township Road 594 project was $1.47 million, with $1.4 million provided through MSI funds. A four-km stretch of that road was paved.

MSI funding covered 91 per cent of the total cost for the two projects.

Earlier this year, the County identified three culverts in the area that needed to be replaced. Those culverts are located near Barrhead, Mystery Lake and Dunstable. County Manager Mark Oberg stated at the time that these three specific culverts have been identified as being in the worst shape.

Funds for the majority of the replacement work will come from the province’s bridge Guidelines and Procedures (GAP) program. Through GAP, the province will pay for part of the work on a project, but not other parts, so depending on the project, there will be differing percentages of what they will cover, Oberg said.

Replacement work for the culvert near Barrhead comes with a price tag of $191,789, which includes site occupancy. The engineering costs will be $50,401, for which the County is responsible for $7,800.

There are no final figures for how much it will cost for replacement work for the culvert located near Mystery Lake and Dunstable, although the County has budgeted $241,797 for Mystery Lake (with engineering costs of $52,810, of which the County would have to pay $8,820) and $232,274 for Dunstable (with engineering costs of $53,085, of which the County would have to pay $8,820).

What makes them the three worst culverts in the area is age and deterioration, which could be attributed to the amount of traffic on the roads, Oberg said. This project is part of the County’s ongoing road maintenance work.

“This is all part of road maintenance,” Oberg said. “Every once in a while, you have to buy new tires for your car, or change the sparkplugs, just like every once in a while we have to change the culverts that are in bad shape.”

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