Heavy equipment damage on 131st Street will require repair work on the 1 ½-mile paved portion of the road from Highway 75 to the Luverne Memorial Gardens cemetery.
The Rock County Highway Department will help Mound Township in the next couple of weeks by applying a crack filler/leveler to the damage caused this spring by the heavy ag equipment.
At the April 19 County Board meeting, county engineer Mark Sehr said equipment rental and fill material will cost the township between $10,000 to $15,000.
Commissioners discussed the repairs and how to avoid future damage to township and gravel roads.
Most damage occurs in the spring as frost leaves the ground, a problem that came to the commissioners’ attention in 2019 in Martin Township, when County 53 was damaged.
County crews repaired the road by grading and graveling about a mile of the roadway.
“We’ve got this problem all over the county, especially in the spring when they are all hauling and the road goes bad,” said Commissioner Stan Williamson.
As unlicensed vehicles, tractors and what they pull along the roadway are not subjected to posted roadway weight restrictions.
“Ag, in this instance, the honey wagons, are not licensed so it all goes by the PSI (pounds per square inch) on the tires,” Sehr said. “As long as the pounds per square inch are (within limits) they are exempt from the posting part.”
Enforcement of PSI per axle restrictions is not handled locally. The Minnesota State Patrol has the ability to test PSI per axle weights and issue possible citations.
The portion of 131st Street north of Luverne was paved more than a decade ago through a $385,000 Local Road Improvement Program bond. The state approved the request as an access improvement to the Luverne Memorial Gardens cemetery.
Several “handshake agreements” are typical in Rock County between township officials and livestock producers who need to repeatedly transport heavy products over township roadways.
In some instances, an alternative method of delivery was used when road conditions were too soft to safely use without damage.
“Hopefully, we can get people together to look at this and sit down with this producer,” Williamson said. “It’s ridiculous that we can’t have a handshake agreement in Rock County.”
Mound Township is unique as the only Rock County township (other than the town of Kanaranzi) to maintain a bituminous roadway.
Sehr said when 131st Street was paved, it was constructed with a 12-inch concrete stabilizing base that was rated at 20 tons per axle weight and topped with a 4-inch bituminous wear course.
The vertical cracks that have developed could not be 100 percent attributed to heavy loads, but could be related to more moisture under the roadbed.
The horizontal cracks, however, indicate another damage source.
“That is more related to heavy loads,” Sehr said.
Commissioners agreed a conversation needs to take place before closing the road, a possibility that county attorney Jeff Haubrich will research.
“If you close the road, then it closes the road for everyone,” Haubrich cautioned.
He said transportation recommendations may also be considered as part of future conditional use permits granted to ag operations.
Commissioners instructed county personnel to contact producers about road use to prevent damage in the future.
“It would be nice if you can work out an agreement somehow between parties rather than have damage done and someone else has to deal with it,” said Commissioner Gary Overgaard.