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Commissioners approve two road-paving final plans, discuss costs
Summary
After an engineering presentation, commissioners approved final paving plans for two county projects — including an intersection realignment and a paired-mile paving package — and discussed pavement thickness, per-mile costs and added engineering expenses.
Hardin County commissioners approved final plans for two county paving projects following an engineering presentation describing construction approaches and projected pavement thickness. Speaker 4 described the first project as a basic paving job that requires adding 4 inches of asphalt (an initial inch to level wheel-track "bathtub" depressions plus 3 inches on top) and recommended converting a partly uncontrolled intersection into a straight T to reduce conflicting right-of-way movements. Speaker 3 moved to approve the plans; Speaker 1 seconded and the motion carried.
The second project is a simpler, adjacent segment; Speaker 4 said the two projects are roughly a mile apart and will be bid together to secure better pricing to pave about 8 miles overall. Speaker 3 moved and seconded approval of those final plans as well. Commissioners noted the connecting gravel road will remain a level B and they do not plan to upgrade it to level 8 at this time.
Commissioners and engineers also discussed pavement design and costs. Speaker 4 said a new road normally needs "at least 6 inches" of base and that for these projects they plan to "pave out onto the gravel road" using 7 inches in those areas. On costs, the transcript records inconsistent phrasing: Speaker 4 said "it used to be 50,000 per inch per mile" and later said "it's getting closer to $200 per inch per mile"; Speaker 4 also cited an estimate of "$750 per mile" for asphalt material in one exchange. Speaker 5 noted that engineering, compaction studies and environmental studies are additional items not included in the material-only figures. Engineers stated they generally do not pursue paving gravel roads that do not carry about 300 vehicles per day.
Both plan approvals were adopted during the meeting; the county did not present a detailed budget breakdown or contract award in the discussion recorded in the transcript.
