The Marshall County Highway Department was able to show a cost savings when it comes to road repairs and maintenance.
During Monday morning’s Marshall County Council meeting, Highway Superintendent Jason Peters provided comparables with the amount of patch and materials used. Marshall County agreed to the purchase of a PUG Mill this year. The machine is used for mixing materials in the production of road patch.
Peters says there’s been quite a savings.
“Basically if we were using patch and hot mix right now, we would be close to $800-thousand that we’ve already used to date,” says Peters. “With the things that we’ve done with the PUG Mill and how we’ve offset some of the costs, we’re expecting to spend about $478-thousand on those two materials.”
By using the PUG Mill, Marshall County can perform some of the mixing themselves.
For cold patch – which is a seasonal mix for road repairs – Marshall County has spent about $150-thousand. That compares with the cost of $272-thousand if the mix was purchased from a local company.
Peters says their progress varies each week.
“One week we gain 10 miles of patching, the next week it seems like we do 12,” says Peters. “The weather has just been horrendous.”
Weather conditions have been moist throughout the spring and summer, perhaps slowing road repair work.
Peters says he wants his staff prepared for when the weather breaks and road repair work can truly get underway.
