Lauderdale County supervisors are looking to capitalize on a good opportunity as a store of crushed concrete in Kemper County is available for local projects.
In a work session Thursday, Road Manager Rush Mayatt said he and the Clarke County Road Manager traveled to North American Coal Plant in Kemper, where roughly 7,000 to 9,000 tons of the material is for sale.
“It’s really, really good stuff, really, really inexpensive,” he said. “Clarke County, us, desperately need to take advantage of this.”
Mayatt said the material is extremely versatile as aggregate and can be used in numerous applications throughout the county. It can be used on dirt roads and as base material for paved roads as well.
The North American Coal Plant is looking to get rid of the material, and Lauderdale County would only need to pay the cost of having a contractor load the material into county dump trucks. Mayatt said he estimates that cost at around $4-$5 per ton. Currently, he said, the county pays $45 per ton for similar aggregate material.
“I’ve never heard of $5 a ton for anything,” Supervisor Joe Norwood said.
Partnering with Clarke County to move the material will provide enough dump trucks to keep the contractor busy at the Kemper site while still allowing for Lauderdale County’s day-to-day activities, Mayatt said. Otherwise, work within Lauderdale County would have to stop while all 13 county trucks worked to haul the material.
Lauderdale County’s portion of the aggregate will be stockpiled at the central road department on Highway 39, with smaller amounts stationed at each of the department’s satellites throughout the county.
Supervisor Josh Todd said the material will save the county a substantial amount of money and more than warrants the time and effort spent on logistics. Even sending all of the county’s trucks would be worth it in his view, he said.
“Five dollars a ton? We’re good with not having a day or two of production,” he said.
Supervisor Kyle Rutledge said saving $40 per ton on 9,000 tons would come out to around $360,000 in savings for the county.
In other business, Mayatt said he is recommending the Board of Supervisors cancel a bridge project on Old Highway 39 and reallocate the money toward other bridge projects throughout the county.
Roughly $1 million is tied up in the project, which is ready to go out for bid, Mayatt said. However, the county has received a petition from surrounding landowners to keep the road closed indefinitely.
“We’re kind of just sitting in this limbo with all these funds tied up,” he said.
Taking that funding and putting it toward other bridges that residents do want to see reopened is a better use of the money, he said, and the county can come back at a later date and address Old Highway 39 if it becomes an issue.