When Montrose County residents approved a 1 percent sales tax for county roads two years ago, they expected to see results. The county obliged by holding a media day to demonstrate some of its new road building equipment, including the Wirtgen 2000 Reclaimer, which cost $598,000.

In the past, when the county wanted to resurface one of its many crumbling asphalt roads, old road material had to be dug up and removed and new material brought in. But replacing old roadbeds is much easier with the 20-foot-long, 8-foot-wide Reclaimer, which simultaneously rips up old roads and mixes in a stabilizing agent. No material has to be hauled out and after the huge machine does its work, it leaves behind a 20-inch deep roadbed that’s ready for gravel and chip seal applications.

Montrose County Road and Bridge Director Brian Wilson said that in the past the county had to borrow a Reclaimer from Grand Junction or Denver, which meant delays and interruptions for work projects. Having its own machine means the county can get the work done more quickly and efficiently.

“The intent is to try and save dollars over traditional reconstruction costs,” he said.

Wilson and County Engineer Dean Cooper watched last week as crews worked on resurfacing a half-mile section of county road between Jig and Jay Jay roads.

As the Reclaimer – Cooper called it a “roto-tiller” – lumbered slowly over the road surface, a tanker truck fed it water through a hose and another truck drove ahead, laying out wet cement.

“The tanker feeds hook onto the front of the roto-tiller, and the site spreader lays out Portland cement,” he said. “Then the roto-tiller chops up the existing roadbed and mixes it with cement to make a homogenous mixture.”

Many miles of old asphalt county roads are crumbling because they were blacktopped over poor soils, Cooper said, so the roads only lasted from three to five years.

“The old roads are still falling apart, but compared to traditional repaving, we’re saving between $150,000 to $200,000 per mile,” he said.

The Wirtgen machine was purchased last year and has already been used to resurface about six miles of county roads, he said. The average cost to “fully reconstruct and stabilize” county roads last year was $599,754 per running mile, according to the county.

Road reconstruction means more than just resurfacing, Cooper said. It also involves straightening bad curves and widening the roads using global positioning satellites to guide the road grader.

“We use GPS satellites just like the ones your car uses, but to a higher degree of precision,” he said. “Our contract engineers and surveyors give us raw data, we put it in a computer, and the grader follows a 3-D model both horizontally and vertically.”

Planned road reconstruction for this year includes 5.6 miles of 25 Mesa Road near Nucla, 1.44 miles of South River Road, and strips of less than a half mile on 5400 Road, Peach Road and 6125 Road.

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