We tested material, we put it side-by-side
by their competitors, we looked at it for years
before we committed to doing anything. This stuff, aesthetically was superior because
High Density Mineral Bond will stay black.
I don't know if the aggregate in there is
black, but there is a reason for it being black longer. People like that. If you don't know
anything about it, they would think - they
would swear - somebody repaved their road.
I've had more than one person call and say thank you for repaving their road when what
we did was a High Density Mineral Bond. My name is Rod Thompson, I'm with the Tooele
County Road Department. Nationwide we were the seventh fastest-growing county. We've
found that by keeping up on our preventative maintenance we could save dollars over the
long run. So instead of doing a reconstruction or thick overlay or rehabilitation, we can
do preventative maintenance to save 9 or 10 times the money where over the long haul you're
saving money and your roads are in better
condition. So it's easier to do the best roads
first actually. As soon as we get a roads
that's put on our system, we put it on our
preventative maintenance system. Every five
years we get some kind of surface course ideally.
Sometimes that stretches out seven or eight
years. We're really happy with the High Density
Mineral Bond. I love using it. We've used
that for the last 10 years and we've made
great improvements. And the public likes it. We started a road inventory of our assets back
in 1988. So every three years we do an actual inventory, I call it. We go out and do a condition
assessment and determine what condition the roads are in. We do a five-year plan. Our
five-year plan includes everything from chip seals, overlays, surface course. My advice
for other agencies might be to look outside the box and maybe look at other options rather
than just do one or two different treatments. Maybe look at other things that may be more
beneficial for the cost. I mean money is what drives everything. So look at those options.
Quiet little Tooele County is not that quiet
anymore and it is growing. So how do we deal
with that? Number one we deal with it when they they put the infrastructure in we inspect
it. Make sure they do a good job putting it
in so it will last longer and we put it on
a preventative maintenance schedule right from day one so that those roads don't deteriorate
to the point were we have to do reconstruction
or overlay. We have urban clusters in Tooele
County where the people live in normal subdivision lots 8000 to 10000 square foots lots and they
have curb, gutter, and sidewalk. And we've
found that we can't necessarily service them
by going in and doing the chip seal that we've done in the rural areas. So we have to look
at other alternatives. One of those alternatives is High Density Mineral Bond. We go in and
do that. And the people like it because number one it's black. It looks good. It increases
the value of their home, because it looks
good. They like the black and they like the
fact that that they can out out and rollerskate
on it or rollerblade or skateboard or ride
their bicycles you know and they don't have to deal with a bunch of rocks on their driveways.
In my career, I know I've taken some risk.
I've taken some risk it terms of taking – doing
options that other people hadn't considered
but I think it is worthwhile to weigh your
risk against the benefit. Don't just do something because that's what somebody else did. Choose
your treatments wisely and do what makes the most sense for you. But look at all of the options.
My name is Willie Jaramillo. I've
worked for Tooele County for 30 years. I'm
the Operations Manager. I do a lot of inspections,
I help with budgeting, I help with different
projects the county is doing. We put out bids
for different projects that are going on throughout
our county. We've got about 1200 miles of
worth of roads throughout the county. On our
surface treatments, we like to do that High Density Mineral Bond. It lasts really good
for us. We do a lot of crack seal. We got
a lot of tools in the toolbox for our area.
One thing that's unique about Tooele County
is we're right next to the Great Salt Lake
so we get a lot of freeze-thaw cycles there.
So the biggest advice I got for other agencies
is try to stay on top of it. It's cheaper
to pay for a crack seal or a surface treatment
- then it goes into chip seals. If you don't
do preventative maintenance then your starting
to spend a lot of money with thick overlays.
