Gravel Road Maintenance Program

In the deep part of winter, and all we see is snow, ice, cold, and freezing temps. You cannot help but think of summer, when we can remove the heavy coats and insolated boots. In the next couple of weeks the ice and snow will begin to thaw, and we all know the havoc that is does to our roads. I’m sure you all know what needs to be done to the road-surface to minimize accidents and complaints, but how about the continuous maintenance of the gravel roads in your area?

What types of planning do you have to minimize the accidents and complaints for these surfaces? Do you have a program for maintenance of gravel roads, or do you just do maintenance based on complaints? Minnesota LTAP has a Gravel Road Maintenance and Design Training on April 10^th or April 12^th to help with these questions.

http://www.mnltap.umn.edu/training/topic/maintenance/gravel/

If those dates do not work for you, or if you’ve taken the workshop in the past and just need a refresher, they also offer an online training. More information on that can be found at:

http://www.mnltap.umn.edu/training/topic/maintenance/gravel/online/index.html

Having a good gravel maintenance program that reviews spring maintenance after the thaw, continuous summer maintenance to reduce wash boarding and maintain a proper crown, as well as preparation for the next winter is important, and can help reduce crashes, accidents, and minimize complaints!

By Troy Walsh