Chip and seal road repairs are underway in rural Bartholomew County.
The 2024 Chip and Seal program consists of 44 separate sections of rural roads that total 51.08 miles. The work should be completed in four to five weeks, Bartholomew County Highway Superintendent Dwight Smith said.
Chip sealing is a thin film of heated asphalt liquid sprayed on the road surface, followed by the placement of small pieces of gravel (chips) compacted into the asphalt for maximum adherence. This process helps to protect the pavement from the effects of sun and water. It also increases skid resistance and fills small cracks and other surface defects.
Throughout Indiana’s 92 counties, highway department heads including Smith appreciate chip sealing because it is one fourth to one fifth the cost of a conventional asphalt overlay. In past years, Bartholomew County Commissioner Carl Lienhoop has stressed chip sealing is not a temporary fix and can extend the life of asphalt pavement by five to seven years.
However, in the past, local residents have complained that blotches from the mixture end up on the body of their vehicles. The process is also smelly, provides no structural strength, doesn’t repair all cracks and makes more noise when driven upon, according to the National Transportation Research Board.
Meanwhile, the 2024 Bartholomew County overlay program, which involves putting a new layer of asphalt on the most damaged rural roads, seems to be moving along better than anticipated.
On Monday, the Bartholomew County commissioners officially accepted the $1.5 million Community Crossings matching grant announced last spring by signing a financial commitment letter that was sent to the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT). By agreeing to match the grant on a 50-50 basis, the county is obligating itself to invest $1.5 million into the overlay and bring the total amount available to $3 million, Smith said.
This is the first year the maximum annual Community Crossings grant was raised to $1.5 million – up from $1 million.
The other positive development is that Milestone Contractors of Columbus has agreed to carry out the 30 repaving projects, covering 26 miles of rural roads, for $2,898,129. Smith says that amount is $101,871 below the grant amount, which means a few more sections of roads will get a new blacktop. However, he says those sections have not yet been determined.
The current priority is repairing or replacing deteriorating culverts and drainage pipes that need to be repaired before new asphalt can be put down, the highway superintendent said. Culverts or pipes are generally used as cross drains for ditch relief, as well as to pass water under a road at natural drainage and stream crossings.
There are some projects on the list that have already been prepared for a new blacktop, Smith said. Milestone can work on them until the pipes and culverts are all installed in either late August to early September, Smith said.
The matching local funds will come from the county’s economic development income tax (CEDIT) revenue.
