By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — John Sworski, Dunn County Director of Public Works, says he hopes October, November and December will present a mild start to the winter to counteract the hit the 2019 winter maintenance budget took in February, March and April.
Sworski presented the Dunn County Highway Division’s 2018 annual report to the Dunn County Board at the June 19 meeting.
February was particularly hard on the county’s 2019 winter maintenance budget with the snowstorms and extreme cold, Sworski noted.
The 2018 winter maintenance expenses already were above the five-year average of $1.24 million, he said.
The total cost for 2018 winter maintenance was $1.33 million. According to the amounts included in the highway division’s annual report, winter maintenance for 2018 cost $92,000 more than the average based on the 2013 to 2017 winter seasons.
The $1.33 million includes labor, equipment and materials. Among the materials used in 2018 were salt, salt-sand and salt-brine.
“In an effort to reduce chemical consumption and expense, salt brine is utilized to pre-wet both salt and salt-sand to have the material ‘stick’ to the road and also accelerate the deicing process,” the report states.
The highway division purchased salt for $72 per ton, but almost all of the salt/sand mixture has been used, and salt is expected to increase to $78 or $79 per ton, Sworski said.
In 2018, 12,607 tons of salt-sand were used on county highways, which included 630 tons of salt. Another 1,689 tons of salt, in addition to the salt-sand, also were used on the county highways, according to the annual report.
In 2018, based on 17 county plow routes, there were 7,673 labor hours, or about 450 hours per route, according to the report.
The county uses about two-thirds of the salt-sand, and the remainder goes to the townships, Sworski noted.
All together, Dunn County maintains 850 lane miles of county roads and another 500 lane miles for the state Department of Transportation, he said.
The highway department budget for 2019 of $12.2 million, represents an increase of about $100,000, and uses $1.5 million of highway department fund balance, which is an increase of about $900,000 over the highway department fund balance used in the 2018 budget.
The amounts of highway department fund balance for 2018 and 2019 were both less, however, than the highway department fund balance used in 2017 of $2.1 million.
Reimbursement
Larry Bjork, county board supervisor from Menomonie, asked if Dunn County is reimbursed for the work done on state and federal highways, such as plowing snow.
The county receives reimbursement from the state on a time and materials basis for the work done with county equipment, Sworski said.
The system of using county equipment to maintain state highways works out well for the state because then the state does not need to maintain buildings, equipment or employees, he said.
Since the equipment belongs to Dunn County, the equipment used on the state roads also is available for county use, Sworski said.
Donald Kuether, county board supervisor from Menomonie, asked if the salt-sand requirements for the state and for Interstate-94 were the same.
The county uses salt or brine on I-94 to make sure the ice melts, but county roads use a 5 percent salt and 95 percent sand mixture. The 5 percent salt keeps the sand from freezing over the winter, Sworski said.
The liquid brine is a good solution to use, except when the temperature is too cold, and then the road surface refreezes, he said.
Mike Rogers, county board supervisor from Menomonie, asked who approves the bridge projects.
WisDOT approves the bridge projects, with 80 percent of the cost being paid by the state and 20 percent local cost, Sworski said.
Bridges
According to the annual report, Dunn County currently has four bridges — three county and one local — in the Local Bridge Improvement Program that are going to be replaced.
Design for the bridge on county Highway W over Popple Creek was awarded to Ayres and Associations out of Eau Claire.
Design for the bridge on county Highway Q over Wilson Creek was awarded to Cedar Corporation out of Menomonie,
Design for bridge on county Highway K over Flayton Creek was awarded to KL Engineering out of Menomonie.
Design for the only local bridge in the program, the bridge on 705th Street in the Town of Wilson over Pine Creek, was awarded to Cooper Engineering of Rice Lake.
All county and local bridges were inspected in 2018. The county system has 76 bridges, and there are 72 bridges in towns and villages, according to the annual report.
Road work
The Dunn County Highway Division performs routine maintenance on 425 miles of county highways.
The work includes asphalt patching, maintenance asphalt overlay, shouldering, mowing, brushing, signs, guardrails, culvert/drainage work, crack filling, chip sealing and pavement marking.
In 2018, county employees crack filled approximately 30.75 miles of county highway, chip sealed 39.22 miles, marked pavement on 426 miles, put down asphalt overlays on 7.85 miles, and resurfaced or reconditioned 11.15 miles.
In addition, county employees crack filled 20.4 miles for townships, chip sealed 11.03 miles for townships, and completed 2.17 miles of asphalt resurfacing for townships and villages.
