Road commission saves money on asphalt and gravel by doing it themselves

Branch County Road Commission "just kind of fell into" two costs saving projects for 2022 after talking about operational improvements for the last couple of years. Both are saving money.

Over the last year, the commission spent less than $400,000 to upgrade its asphalt plant to produce the road material locally.

The plant is one of only three in Michigan operated by a road commission rather than purchasing commercial asphalt. The county operated a plant for decades, but it needed updating and repairs.

"It's all scaled shaker screened," said Manager Jay Miller. "It's fully automated now. Before, it was basically manual. Now it's fully automatic."

The road commission charges $55 a ton for asphalt for its projects. The current price commercially for a ton of asphalt is around $100.

"Last year, we made $75,000. The more we produce, the more we make," Miller said.

There is some interest from Calhoun County.

The commission also is leasing a gravel crusher for the central pit off U.S. 12. A Swedish company offered to rent the unit. Miller said, "it's the Ferrari of crushers."

"We've already produced almost 20,000 tons," he said. "That's what we use in our asphalt."

It will also produce the rock for the chip and seal road resurfacing starting July 11.

Miller said the road commission would also redo 25 miles of gravel road this year.

The unit crushes and screens the different sizes of rock. Branch County is unique in that, unlike St. Joseph County with sand deposits, Branch County has gravel and stone left by glaciers.

The cost per ton to crush and screen the gravel is between $4 and $7 a ton. Commercial gravel prices ran up to $14 a ton this year.

Commissioner Randy Traverlbee said the "commission goal was five years of gravel usage" crushed and stockpiled.

The road commission got lucky as prices escalated and supplies diminished for 2022.

"It's pretty cool. We don't know if it's so much falling into it, but it worked with our prior planning," Miller said.     

This article originally appeared on The Daily Reporter: Road Commission saves money on asphalt and gravel doing it themselves