TheCook County Highway Department is busy throughout the county this summer, and County Engineer David Betts and Maintenance Supervisor Russell Klegstad attended the Tuesday, July 27, 2010 county board meeting to let commissioners know what the crew is up to.
The board approved the purchase of several pieces of equipment, including a gravel washer and sieve for $1,200 that is used to sample the gravel that is available at various gravel crushing sites. Klegstad said it would help improve the quality of the gravel they use. Gravel has been laid down on numerous county roads this summer, but it has been too loose. “The material we’ve been working with is substandard,” Klegstad said.
Calcium chloride is used to help bind loose gravel together and actually helps preserve the roads. Residents appreciate it because it keeps the dust down, and Klegstad has heard from them. “I’ve had some angry people, and I’ve had some happy people,” he said. Thepeople who complain are unhappy because the treatment did not extend past their homes.
Klegstad was authorized to accept the lowest bid for striping on County Road 8 and three sections of the Gunflint Trail where there was no striping. Thestriping will be done with latex paint, which is less costly than epoxy, which former County Engineer Shae Kosmalski had advocated. Using latex would allow them to get more striping done with the money that is available. Regarding the striping on the Gunflint Trail, Commissioner Jim Johnson said, “The citizens up there will appreciate that.”
Besides replacing numerous culverts and pushing up Firewise pits, the maintenance crew has also been mowing and brushing. “Mowing’s been an issue,” Klegstad said. “And brushing. It’s been a struggle to keep up with the brushing. We’ve had the brusher out every day.”
The crew has laid down three truckloads of pothole patching so far this summer. Some sections of blacktop have temporarily been replaced with gravel, but they will be replaced by blacktop again in the fall.
A big bump on the Lutsen Ski Hill Road will be fixed this year, Klegstad said. A storm washed out underneath the road, and then frost heaved the pavement back up. It was not the fault of the people who put the road down, Klegstad said.
“I try to spread out the work throughout the county,” said Klegstad. “All the residents need to see us in their area. …The projects we have planned will mount up until the snowballs fly.”
“You know who to call if you’re having problems,” said Commissioner Fritz Sobanja. “Call Russ!”
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