County tries Asphalt Zipper on deteriorated local road

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Rusty Weinberg, Davison County highway superintendent, operates the county’s new Asphalt Zipper machine on Ohlman Street near Eighth Avenue Thursday morning in Mitchell as Warren Carter, highway department employee, monitors the progress. (Melanie Brandert/Republic Photo)

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Davison County turned its new Asphalt Zipper road-grinding machine loose Thursday on an infamous stretch of Ohlman Street in northwest Mitchell.

The Zipper worked a quartermile section of Ohlman in the area between West Eighth and West 23rd avenues, Davison County Highway Superintendent Rusty Weinberg said. Ownership of the one-mile stretch of road is shared between the city and the county, but no joint agreement was finalized between the two entities prior to Thursday’s work.

The road has been known for years as one of the worst in the city, and lately it’s been even more beat up because of unusual weather conditions. Weinberg said repairs have been delayed because neither the city nor county has assumed responsibility for Ohlman.

“I was getting so many phone calls on that stretch of road that I just went and ground it up,” Weinberg said. Technically, he added, Davison County owns the west side of Ohlman and the city of Mitchell is responsible for the east side of the street.

“I was tempted to grind up just the west side of the street,” Weinberg joked, “but I decided that wouldn’t look too good.”

The work needed to be done, he said. The section of Ohlman Street re-worked by county crews had broken asphalt and potholes 8 to 9 inches deep.

“There are no more potholes,” Weinberg said of the stretch worked by the Zipper.

The short section of road also had broken asphalt 5 inches to 1 foot thick. After the Zipper ground up that base to a consistent surface, road crews leveled, watered and compacted the gravel material.

“It compacted really well,” Weinberg said, and the new surface, while not asphalt, is infinitely better than riding through potholes, he said.

After working out some technical problems, it took a crew about five hours to grind up the section of roadway, Weinberg said. The only expense to the county was for labor and machinery. No additional road material was purchased for the project.

The new compacted surface can now be chip-sealed or covered with a layer of asphalt. But exactly who will pay for that remains to be seen.

Mitchell Public Works Director Tim McGannon said Thursday he wasn’t aware that Weinberg was going to tackle Ohlman with the new Zipper.

He said a joint city and county committee will have to discuss any cost sharing at a future meeting.

In the meantime, Weinberg said, “People won’t have to bang through those potholes.”

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