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Pennsylvania’s dirt roads weren’t built for heavy truck traffic.
As the oil and gas industry brings in heavy equipment in Susquehanna and Bradford counties, roadways are showing the wear. “What we’re seeing is larger ruts being placed in these roads ...As a result, the road just breaks apart,” said Shane Kleiner, state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
“These roads were never built to be able to handle that type of intense pressure over an extended period of time ...You’re looking at two to five million gallons of water being transferred to a well site for fracking potential,” he said at this month’s Wayne Conservation District meeting.
Though the industry is applying stone to try and fix the problem, a better solution is being sought. “What we’re seeing is, their techniques are just temporary,” Kleiner said. “The industry wants to be a good neighbor ...But we’d like to give them better guidance on how to do that. Because some of the things that they’re doing isn’t a long-term fix.”
“They’re coming in with truck load after truck load of stone to make (the roads) drivable,” said Wayne Conservation District Manager Bob Muller, Jr. But, as they drive over the stone, it crushes down, creating the need for more stone. “It’s like putting a Band-Aid on an open wound that’s not healing. This isn’t working,” Muller said.
“I’m excited that (the industry is) working with the Bradford Conservation District and the Center for Dirt and Gravel Roads, through Penn State University” to find a solution, Muller said.
Kleiner says DEP is also working with the Center to figure out the right stone mixture and “proper practices to take in order to make sure that they hold up to that type of traffic.”
Bond issue
Christina Salak, associate director with the Wayne Conservation District, questioned if the townships experiencing road problems had bonds in place.
“Most of the bonds from a lot of those small townships are $10,000 bonds, where some of the damages occurring on these roads are up in the $100,000 range,” Kleiner said.
By state law, townships may request a maximum $10,000 per mile bond (insurance policy)from the contractor to cover any problems that may occur, Muller said.
“As we’re seeing with the Dirt and Gravel Road program, just the aggregate alone, or the stone that’s being used can go above that, to just put the surface area,” Kleiner said. By the time drainage issues, etc., are factored in the cost could easily surpass what the bond will cover, Kleiner said.
“Ten thousand dollars per mile isn’t going to cover the work. Just for us to do a dirt road project, which includes a few culverts, some base material, and eight inches of the driving surface aggregate, the material that’s very durable, is somewhere around $35,000-$45,000 (per mile),” Muller said.
“Because of the complaints that have been coming in ...and the potential for erosion or sediment coming off those roads during the repair activity, we could be seeing pollution events occurring in our streams as a result of that. So, DEP has been getting involved more and more into looking at how we can work with the industry and with the townships to correct those problems pre-emptively,” Kleiner said.
Muller says part of the solution is the use of geotextiles. “It’s a fabric material that’s been used for decades for separating the mud from the stone above,” he said.
Pennsylvania’s dirt roads weren’t built for heavy truck traffic.
As the oil and gas industry brings in heavy equipment in Susquehanna and Bradford counties, roadways are showing the wear. “What we’re seeing is larger ruts being placed in these roads ...As a result, the road just breaks apart,” said Shane Kleiner, state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
“These roads were never built to be able to handle that type of intense pressure over an extended period of time ...You’re looking at two to five million gallons of water being transferred to a well site for fracking potential,” he said at this month’s Wayne Conservation District meeting.
Though the industry is applying stone to try and fix the problem, a better solution is being sought. “What we’re seeing is, their techniques are just temporary,” Kleiner said. “The industry wants to be a good neighbor ...But we’d like to give them better guidance on how to do that. Because some of the things that they’re doing isn’t a long-term fix.”
“They’re coming in with truck load after truck load of stone to make (the roads) drivable,” said Wayne Conservation District Manager Bob Muller, Jr. But, as they drive over the stone, it crushes down, creating the need for more stone. “It’s like putting a Band-Aid on an open wound that’s not healing. This isn’t working,” Muller said.
“I’m excited that (the industry is) working with the Bradford Conservation District and the Center for Dirt and Gravel Roads, through Penn State University” to find a solution, Muller said.
Kleiner says DEP is also working with the Center to figure out the right stone mixture and “proper practices to take in order to make sure that they hold up to that type of traffic.”
Bond issue
Christina Salak, associate director with the Wayne Conservation District, questioned if the townships experiencing road problems had bonds in place.
“Most of the bonds from a lot of those small townships are $10,000 bonds, where some of the damages occurring on these roads are up in the $100,000 range,” Kleiner said.
By state law, townships may request a maximum $10,000 per mile bond (insurance policy)from the contractor to cover any problems that may occur, Muller said.
“As we’re seeing with the Dirt and Gravel Road program, just the aggregate alone, or the stone that’s being used can go above that, to just put the surface area,” Kleiner said. By the time drainage issues, etc., are factored in the cost could easily surpass what the bond will cover, Kleiner said.
“Ten thousand dollars per mile isn’t going to cover the work. Just for us to do a dirt road project, which includes a few culverts, some base material, and eight inches of the driving surface aggregate, the material that’s very durable, is somewhere around $35,000-$45,000 (per mile),” Muller said.
“Because of the complaints that have been coming in ...and the potential for erosion or sediment coming off those roads during the repair activity, we could be seeing pollution events occurring in our streams as a result of that. So, DEP has been getting involved more and more into looking at how we can work with the industry and with the townships to correct those problems pre-emptively,” Kleiner said.
Muller says part of the solution is the use of geotextiles. “It’s a fabric material that’s been used for decades for separating the mud from the stone above,” he said.
