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Road & Bridge superintendent outlines 2024 operations; commissioners approve magnesium chloride bid for dust control
Summary
Road & Bridge presented a year-end report covering miles maintained, maintenance and construction costs, and work orders for 2024; the board approved a $1.26-per-gallon bid from Scottwood Industries for magnesium chloride to expand dust-control work.
Road & Bridge Superintendent Brian (as recorded in the transcript) presented the department's 2024 year-end engineer's report and statistics, then asked the board to award a magnesium chloride supply contract for the county's dust-control program.
In his report, Brian said the county manages about 1,200 miles of roads (including 228 miles of asphalt and 962 miles of gravel). He summarized 2024 maintenance and construction activity: 39 chip-seal miles, 10 miles of overlay, 40 full-replacement gravel miles (defined as miles receiving 400 tons or more of material), three culverts larger than 25 square-foot openings replaced, and several bridge and structure maintenance projects. He stated Road & Bridge hauled roughly 58,000 tons of road rock (about 3,900 loads), placed rock on over 100 miles of road and performed routine routine blade work and mowing across 962 gravel miles.
Brian provided a financial summary: annual maintenance costs for asphalt roads were about $4.4 million and for gravel roads a little over $4.0 million; combined maintenance was approximately $8.5 million. Construction costs (including the old Highway 50 project) were about $1.25 million, and overhead and administration (office, inspection, supervision, fleet maintenance and other centralized costs) totaled roughly $1.6 million, giving a total annual program cost of about $11.4 million.
Dust-control program and magnesium chloride
The superintendent explained a localized dust-control program that added one full mile last year on a high-traffic western county road. He said the program reduces the frequency of rock replacement and equipment and labor costs over multiple years. The board heard that extending dust control another one to two miles could reduce recurring hauling and maintenance costs on heavily traveled gravel stretches.
Following that presentation, the board considered bids for magnesium chloride and approved a motion awarding the supply contract to Scottwood Industries, Inc., at $1.26 per gallon (bid dated Jan. 29, 2025). The motion specified funds would come from the Road & Bridge fund.
Why it matters: Road & Bridge maintenance is the largest single operational expense in the county's public-works portfolio; decisions about dust control and equipment purchases shape recurring costs and service levels for county roads.
Ending
Road & Bridge staff will place the magnesium chloride order and continue to collect traffic counts and cost data on dust-control miles to inform future decisions; staff also plan to auction replaced equipment not accepted as trade-ins.
