Lewis County Public Works has finished its yearly chip seal projects, which improved roughly 100 miles of county roads.
According to a county news release, Public Works is responsible for maintaining 1,042 miles of roadway, which includes 930 miles of chip-seal surface, 66 miles of asphalt and 42 miles of gravel roads. This year, crews placed 63,000 gallons of oil and 1.3 million square yards of crushed rock.
“It’s the most efficient way to preserve our roads,” said Lewis County Road Maintenance Supervisor Justin Bushnell. “The county’s goal is to resurface roads every seven to 10 years.”
Money for the projects comes partly from a motor fuel tax and timber sale revenue.
“The oil is sealing up the road and preserving everything underneath it,” Bushnell said. “The rock (placed on top of the oil) is the wearing surface that provides our traction in the winter, and we see a direct impact on accidents in the winter with the number of incidents going down because drivers gain more traction.”
