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Colbert County
Budget Solutions
John Bedford, P.E.
County Engineer
2012 ACEA Convention
Colbert County, Alabama
Located in Northwest AL, ALDOT Second Division
Bordered by the Tennessee River to the North
Population: 55,000
Road Miles: 430 Plant Mix, 200 Chip Seal, 30 Gravel
Unit System – 6 Commissioners, 32 Employees (18 – Maintenance Crew, 7 – Mechanic Shop, 7 – Office Staff)
Road Department Revenues
4-Cent - $1,340,500
7-Cent - $1,275,000
Severance Tax - $100,000
Public Hwy - $150,000 (Equipment Budget)
42
43
5
10
Revenue Percentages
7 Cent4- CentPublic HwySeverance Tax
Road Department Expenses
Salaries and Benefits - $1,329,500
Insurance - $526,900
Road and Bridge Maintenance Expense - $350,975
Fuel - $110,000
Misc. - $735,725(All other Dept. Expenses, Federal
Match, Herbicide, Signs, Overhead, Etc.)
43
17
12
4
24
Expense Percentages
Salaries and Bene-fitsInsuranceMaterialsFuelMisc.
Telling Our Story
Avoid “You never told me ...”
or “What the @#%!”
Road and Bridge Maintenance Reports
Monthly Commission Reports
Newspaper Articles
Keeping the Commission and the Public Informed
Results:
Objective:
Tools:
Road and Bridge Maintenance Report
First Completed in 2008, Updated in 2012
Overview of Road System
List of Roads in Each District, including Surface Type, Length and Width
Costs of Resurfacing 1 Mile
Cost of Failing to Maintain Roads
Gas Tax Distribution Formulas
County Populations
Possible Sources of New Revenue
ACEA Materials and Data
Local Legislature Contact Info
Monthly Commission Reports
Status of Current Projects
Maintenance Operations Being Performed
Personnel Issues
Discovery of New Concerns
Newspaper Articles
We have built a very good relationship with our local paper. (Times Daily)
They run a small story anytime we have a project starting, letting public know about traffic changes.
Will run a follow up story when complete, highlighting what the project accomplished and if/how it saved money or improved travel.
Encourage the public and local politicians to seek additional funding.
Have run several stories for us focusing on the lack of funding and system maintenance needs.
Where Should We Focus?We had to decide what was the greatest limiting factor for use of County roads.
Obviously, a bad road can still be used but a closed or posted bridge isolates entire areas of a County from travel or industry.
With the importance of bridges in mind and the strict guidelines for use of funding on roads, we decided that our main focus would be on bridges.
Money Saving Approaches
EBIT Inspections/Consultations
Wooden Bridge Decks
Stringer Additions
False Bents
Pile Encasements
EBIT Inspections
ALDOT Load Rating Personnel noticed that stringer detail was not shown correctly during a visit.
Recommended investigating reinforcement in deck.
After we determined reinforcement and ALDOT re-evaluated stringers, we were able to go from a 10 ton posting to no posting at all.
EBIT Inspections
On another occasion, we asked EBIT to evaluate our “abutment” walls. They agreed that they were actually “retaining” walls and we were able to remove the posting from the bridge.
Wooden Bridge DecksFour Bridges - $280,000
Replaced Deck on 4 Ton Bridge - $70,000
Replaced 4 Ton Bridge with Culvert - $200,000
Stringer AdditionsTwo Bridges - $32,000
False BentsOne Bridge - $24,500
Pile EncasementsTwo Bridges - $32,000
What About Roads?
Limited use of Federal funding on roads originally built with Federal funds.
Surface Treatments with Federal Funding – This year we initiated our first Federal Aid resurfacing project using a “G” “D” surface treatment as the final layer.
Strip Patching – Aside from Federal Resurfacing, Surface Treatments are the only pavement we put down.
Partnering With Other Counties – We bought liquid asphalt from Lauderdale and Lawrence Counties for years before we could buy a tank of our own. Recently we have swapped out our shoulder machine with Franklin County for some FDR work.
