Road and Bridge Crews Busy Maintaining Roads

Graders busy at work on Thompson Creek Road

Sheridan County is keeping busy during the spring. Kent Muller, County Engineer, said that Sheridan County has 530 miles of county roads, of which 450 miles are gravel. There are also some dry-weather dirt roads that the county maintains. The roads are divided into eight districts with one operator per district.

Recently, the graders and rollers were working on Thompson Creek Road, outside of Clearmont. Jeff Holland, Clearmont District operator said that the roads are very dry this year, and that they were mainly grading them, fixing the rough spots, and bringing the gravel back to the center crown.

Speed and weight both contribute to the deterioration of the road surface material. Horse trailers, hay trucks, and other large equipment traveling on them break down the roads, causing ‘washboards’ and other rough spots. Sheridan County roads are constantly being improved for the safety of the general public.

Due to the dry weather, dust control is being applied to help to keep down the dust that is raised by the traffic, and can be a safety hazard due to low visibility. The dust control agent is either magnesium or calcium chloride, both are different types of salt.

These agents are hygroscopic and deliquescent and have the ability to absorb moisture from the air, especially if it is humid out. This moisture helps to limit dust by keeping the surface of the road damp enough to hold the dust particles down.

According the Muller, the salts can be corrosive to the metal on vehicles. His advice, “Wait until the surface dries. If you have to drive on the wet surface, go slow. Less of it will splash on your vehicle. Run it through a car wash, or even rinse the salt off with a garden hose as soon as possible after you get off the road.”

He also said that drivers should be aware of the equipment on the roads, and go slow for safety. He added that the dust control agents don’t hurt the vegetation. “Its a pretty low concentration, and a heavy rain will dilute it. We still have to mow the roadsides.”