Despite pandemic related revenue loss, county still sees multiple infrastructure improvements

Editor’s Note: This is part of five-day series looking at the top stories from 2021 and what we can expect in 2022. The series will be published Dec. 26-30.

Work on Guernsey County's infrastructure saw a return to almost normal in 2021, after a slowdown in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

"2021, provided a taste of normal operations, but still not quite back to normal, but all we can do is to continue forward as best we can," County Engineer Paul Sherry said.

According to Sherry, the full impact of COVID was realized earlier this year after finalizing the 2020 revenue numbers. Sherry noted that the revenue was hurt by the reduction in people traveling/commuting and the decrease in trucking as the economy slowed resulting in reduced fuel consumption across the state. Revenue lost was more than $850K in 2020, and is expected to be more than $600K in 2021.

"This is equates to about 12 to 15% of our overall budget," Sherry said. "This reduction has negated any hopeful impacts of the gas tax increase back in July 2019 and reduced our year to year carry over to very low levels. Without relief or additional support, we will be forced to further limit our level of service, however, I am optimistic that our County Commissioners will come through for our citizens. "

Despite pandemic related revenue loss and setbacks, the Guernsey County Engineers Office made things happen in 2021 and have several accomplishments to report.

After combining some projects postponed from 2020 and adding work planned for 2021, the county tackle a large number of projects and were able to improve many miles of road, Sherry said.

Major projects completed include the Pigeon Gap bridge replacement in Cambridge Township at a total cost of $613,557 with $490,846 provided through grant funding.

The project involved the removal of a truss bridge which was replaced with prestressed concrete beams.

Sherry noted that this is important due to the upcoming bridge rehabilitation on 8th Street in 2024.

The county also improved Fairground, Plainfield and High Hill (phase 1) roads with a traditional resurfacing using a two inch hot mix overlay.

The total cost to do the 10.2 miles of road was $2.25 million with grant funding contributing $894,906. The average cost per mile was $220, 519 with a net cost of $132,697.

According to Sherry, the unit cost is higher than a typical overlay due to the extensive amount of repairs that needed to be performed.

"This small quantity of work is very low production so it is relatively expensive. It was very important to make these repairs as they help extend the life of the surface and keep it in a maintainable condition for a longer period of time," Sherry said.

Additionally, a rejuvenator coating was included in the Fairground Road project to help slow the oxidation which eventually leads to the pavement becoming brittle. It also seals fine pores that remain on the asphalt surface to better shed water, Sherry said.

The county is working on using new techniques in some of the road repairs.

"We are working towards finding a level of sustainability with our roads system that will provide the best road possible," Sherry said. "Our biggest challenge are the roads that have both old chip/seal and gravel."

Sherry notes that these roads have the worst of both types, potholes in and around the hard surface and dust from the gravel making them so they are not really maintainable because repairs done on them only last a few weeks.

One of the new treatments the county is trying is a type of light duty partial depth reclamation, which was performed by Melway Paving, a contractor from Holmes County.

"Overall, this was a very impressive process that moved relatively quickly. With this process, the entire road is covered with new stone and milled at a depth of 6”," Sherry said. "Water is added and heavy compaction equipment is used to work the material and create a new base and profile. Then depending on the expected traffic volumes, the road will be finished in 2 different ways."

Roads that see a heavier volume of traffic will be finished with a cold pave product, sometimes referred to as pug paving and then capped with a chip seal.

Sherry notes that another unique feature to the cold pave is that it is mixed on site or at a nearby stock pile, which gives the contractor flexibility in time and shorter distance to haul material.

For roads that see a lower volume of traffic are reclaimed and finished with a double chip and seal, Sherry said.

Happy Dale, Patch and Sampson roads will repaired using the reclaim and cold pave process at an average unit cost of $107,211 per mile.

Range Road, Frankfort, Greendale, Christian Hill and Sugar Grove were redone using the reclaim and chip/seal method with an average unit cost of $66,147 per mile.

"Our goal with these 20 miles of roadway is to have 3-5 years of very low maintenance while providing a very high level of service to motorists. Then be able to follow up with a single or double chip seal," Sherry said."

Cubbison, Northstar, Marlatt and portions of New Gottengen roads which all have a lower volume of traffic met with a different fate, according to Sherry.

The remaining chip/seal on these roads was so poor there was nothing that could be done to salvage the existing surface.

According to Sherry, these roads were reclaimed in a similar fashion as the others except they will remain as gravel roads.

"We are pleased with this as it leaves the road in an easily maintainable condition," Sherry said.

In addition to road repairs, preventative maintenance was performed on some of the county's roads.

Preventative maintenance was performed on Byesville Road using a micro surfacing technique at an average unit cost of $45,000 per mile for both crack seal and resurfacing.

Sherry describes micro surfacing as a type of slurry seal that is used before the existing asphalt deteriorates to the point of needing milled.

Maintenance work was also completed for crack sealing at a cost of $5K a mile on Larrick, Ridge, Skyline, Fairdale and Prophecy roads. According to Sherry these are roads that were paved five to six years ago.

Sherry noted that the county also placed an emphasis on grader ditching and pulled the entire crew together who managed to improve over 40 miles of roadway ditches.

"By keeping the drainage in good condition, the roads stay in better condition in both the spring and winter season," Sherry said. "Unfortunately, this was interrupted by a few storms that required us to jump to tree clean up mode."

As the county's engineer office looks forward to 2022, they are anticipating a relatively quiet year in respect to contract work.

the resurfacing of High Hill Road will be completed and preventative maintenance work will be performed as the budget allows, Sherry said.

Sherry also said, they hope to finally complete the FEMA projects that have been approved for construction, but until then, they will continue grader ditching and R/W clearing will be the major work that is normally outside their day-to-day operations.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Despite pandemic, county still sees multiple road improvements