During the County Commission meeting on Monday, October 25, 2021, the Elmore County Commission received the 2021 James B. Sorenson Award for Excellence in Pavement Preservation from the Foundation for Pavement Preservation (FP2). The presentation was made by FP2 Executive Director Jim Moulthrop and FP2 President Tim Harawood.
In July of 2021, Ergon Asphalt and Emulsion nominated Elmore County for the 2021 James B. Sorenson Excellence in Preservation Award. The county has invested in various pavement preservation methods over the past 17 years and as a result has been able to increase the number of roads in good condition (rating 80 and above) from 45% in 2004 to 75% in 2021.
Elmore County’s Chief Operations Officer Richie Beyer stated, “With the full support from the County Commission, the county was able to develop a plan to first ensure the roads stay in good shape, and then allocate funds toward treating a percentage of the bad roads. This was not just one program, but a completely new approach to maintenance. Moving from a worst first approach to a more proactive program has allowed the citizens of our county to enjoy better roads throughout the county.”
“The concept of pavement preservation has been one that the Elmore County Commission has embraced. Being proactive in addressing our road and bridge infrastructure us a key principle to our staff and the County Commission. Given our resource limitations, it only makes sense to manage our system under the principles of pavement preservation to maximize the investments being made with our citizens”, stated County Commission Chairman Troy Stubbs.
The key to a successful program Beyer mentioned during the presentation was the team effort. “From the support and buy in at the County Commissioner level to the innovation and development of the program at the engineering and maintenance level, the establishment and success of this program wouldn’t have happened without a cooperative team environment. The Commissioners have to be able to explain why a good or fair road receives work before a really poor condition road on many cases. Our staff is challenged everyday to improve and evaluate each and every process that we implement so we can be as progressive in our maintenance activities as possible. Some days it’s tough when people don’t understand the overall goal, but when you look at the overall data advancements are being made with a fraction of the resources needed to address all our needs,” stated Beyer.
Anyone interested in more info related to the County’s pavement preservation program can email roads@elmoreco.org.
You must be logged in to post a comment.