Private Mag and Gravel Services

Existing Gravel and Mag Application Policy:

Archuleta County Road and Bridge (R&B) Department has had a policy in place for some time for the opportunity of private citizens living on a road that does not get county paid magnesium chloride (mag) treatment to purchase the mag themselves and have R&B personnel and equipment place the mag on their road for them. The program was later expanded to do the same with road surface gravel. If the citizens on a particular road want to receive road surface gravel on their road, then they can pay for the gravel and R&B crews will prep the road, deliver the gravel, place, shape and roll the gravel. 

New Policy:

What is new going forward is that R&B crews will require new gravel to also have mag placed on the gravel. Therefore citizen purchases of gravel will need to include the purchase of mag also. Also new going forward is that R&B crews will not place mag on a road unless that road has sufficient gravel to allow the mag application to be effective. That determination will be made by R&B staff at an onsite inspection of the road. These requirements are to ensure that road conditions remain safe after the application. 

Procedure:

Citizen(s) will contact Archuleta County’s Engineering Tech at 970-264-8404 between Mar 1st and Apr 15th in the year the application(s) is being requested. This will allow accurate information for that year’s cost to be placed on the contract. Citizens are to make sure full payment is made by Apr 16th in order to be on the list to get these application(s) for their road. The R&B department orders mag and gravel in advance of its seasonal applications. Therefore all deadlines must be met so we know how much to order. This program is limited by R&B manpower and equipment to perform the work, so will be based on first come first served basis until we reach that limit. 

Implementation:

In order to optimize resources such as gas, work hours and mobilization/demobilization time, County crews begin at one end of the county and work their way across the county following a strategic route. R&B will accomplish the contracted work when they are in that specific area. R&B crews shape the existing road, then place new gravel, then wet the gravel prior to applying the mag, then spread and compact the gravel with the proper crown. 

Funding Expectations:

The county generally will not pay for gravel and mag for secondary roads or even primary roads with less than 200 ADT. The list of roads receiving mag is available online. Citizens who live on these low ADT roads will normally be required to fund their road’s gravel and mag The R&B department will provide hauling and placement labor and equipment for these activities within stated limits.

The approximate material cost for mag solution is about $3,100 per mile and the approximate material cost for road surface gravel is about $31,000 per mile for a 6 inch depth & $21,000 per mile for 4 inch depth. Depth of gravel required for a particular road will be determined by the County Engineer based on best engineering practices. These prices tend to rise year to year.

effective date: 12/6/2016