County engineer urges full-depth reclamation option for key rural route, proposes rejecting current bids

Heath, a road department staff member, told the Chilton County Commission during a work session that staff recommend rejecting recently opened resurfacing bids and advertising a full-depth reclamation (FDR) project with cement stabilization for County Road 16 between County Road 15 and County Road 37, pending county attorney approval. "I would recommend that we, and part of that resolution be to reject the reject the bids, with the approval to, advertise for FDR with cement stabilization project for camera 16 between camera 15 and camera 37 along with, approval of agreement for geotechnical services for mix design, pending approval by the county attorney," Heath said.

The recommendation comes after staff reviewed competitive bids for several paving and resurfacing projects and found a range of approaches and prices. Heath described two procurement paths: accept the current bids and place an asphalt leveling/wearing surface, or reject them and pursue FDR with cement stabilization, which reconstructs the base. "Most pretty much all the road strength comes from the base. And if you reconstruct it, you know what you got," Heath said, noting FDR is likelier to produce a longer-lasting road.

Why it matters: County Road 16 carries significant heavy truck traffic and multiple base failures; choosing asphalt overlay risks recurring repairs while FDR increases upfront cost but reduces medium‑term maintenance. Heath said geotechnical testing and a laboratory mix design would be required to specify the cement treatment; he gave cost estimates discussed in the meeting: a recent testing engagement ran about $6,500 for lab sampling and mix design and an inspector rate of about $9,900 per day for on-site inspection of stabilization work.

Heath told commissioners a timeline constraint: the county could request samples next week and receive a mix design by Aug. 11 or 12, ahead of an Aug. 26 bid opening, but the schedule would be tight and weather (rain) could affect ability to complete work this year. He recommended including authorization in a resolution to reject the current bids and to advertise the FDR option and to approve an agreement for geotechnical services "pending approval by the county attorney." Heath also said that if bids are rejected, budget adjustments would occur in the next fiscal year because many invoices would fall after Oct. 1.

In the same presentation, Heath sought approval to apply for a 26 LRSI grant to fund guardrail improvements on County Road 54 and County Road 23, citing specific locations with missing or substandard rail. He also described recent bid openings for ramp/wearing-surface contracts and recommended awarding a chip-seal/ramp contract to the low bidder after staff review; the meeting transcript includes a low-bid reference to Wiregrass Construction but the numeric bid text in the packet was not clearly stated during the session.

Heath also requested approval to purchase or retrofit a hydraulic spreader body for a surplus military 6x6 dump truck to improve ice-storm response and to support prime-and-sand operations ahead of paving. He described the spreader as a reliability and safety upgrade during winter bridge icing events and for prime/sand placement when traffic returns to recently treated surfaces.

Discussion and next steps: commissioners asked for cost details and expressed concern about the tight schedule. Heath proposed obtaining samples and a mix design immediately to preserve the FDR option. He said staff would work with Nikisha in finance on budget amendments if the county proceeds next fiscal year. No formal vote or resolution was recorded in the work session; Heath said he would place the recommended resolution(s) before the commission for formal action at the next meeting.

Additional context: Heath noted two recently completed projects (including a widening on County Road 409) and ongoing striping and guardrail replacements near the Clanton city limits. He said contractors are currently preparing wearing surfaces and traffic striping for recently reconstructed segments.