Rising asphalt prices make resurfacing pricey in Florence County

By Charles Tomlinson
Morning News Reporter
Published: July 5, 2008

Florence County Councilman Morris Anderson said he “almost fainted” when he saw it would cost $48,000 to resurface streets in west Florence’s Arrowood subdivision, which he described as in “dire need” of repairs.

The rising cost of crude oil, used in making asphalt, is making it more expensive to pave and maintain Florence County roads.

The cost of resurfacing roads has increased “drastically” recently — nearly doubling from about $46,000 to $50,000 a mile to about $90,000 a mile, Florence County Public Works Director Carlie Gregg said.

The county has about 140 miles of paved roads and about 480 “unimproved” miles of roads consisting of either dirt or crushed asphalt, Gregg said.

Fluctuating petroleum prices make the situation even more uncertain, Gregg said.

“If we get a number from a contractor, it’s only good for a few days,” he said.

Even while the cost hasn’t changed for stone and crushed asphalt, which is recycled asphalt, transporting those road materials to Florence County has grown more expensive because of rising fuel costs, Gregg said.

Florence County Administrator Richard Starks said quality of crushed asphalt has deteriorated because companies are reclaiming oil in their primary asphalting process.

Five years ago, crushed asphalt had a high oil content that helped it set well on a dirt road, Starks said. Now, he said, the county often receives drier crushed asphalt that doesn’t hold up as well.

The most recent county-maintained road to be paved was Aire Acres Road near Timmonsville, and that was 10 years ago, Gregg said.

Two other county-maintained roads were paved during the two years before that, he said.

All three were improved using funds allocated by the Florence County Transportation Committee, to which county council can make paving requests.

State law requires county-maintained roads to get 75 percent of the committee’s funds, which are a portion of the state’s gas tax, while the remainder goes to state-maintained roads, Starks said.

It’s a regular occurrence for roads in the county to be paved, although those roads are commonly in a subdivision and paved by a developer, Gregg said.

Resurfacing of county-maintained roads is done through the committee or county council’s nine Road System Maintenance Fee funds, one for each council member’s district, Gregg said.

The $30-per-vehicle fee raises about $3.2 million a year. Of that, about $2.24 million goes toward road maintenance, while $448,000 goes into the council members’ funds, according to county documents.

The $48,000 for paving the Arrowood subdivision roads, in councilman Anderson’s district, essentially uses his district’s entire fund for this fiscal year.