Power by-product improves paving

To set the stage for the rebuilding of Nebraska Highway 25 between Hayes Center and the Hayes-Lincoln county line, workmen are using heavy equipment to grind the base of the road and mix it with fly ash and water. The revamped base will then be topped with a three-inch layer of new asphalt. (Gene O. Morris/McCook Daily Gazette)

HAYES CENTER -- The road leading from Hayes Center to the Lincoln County line was supposed to be hard-surfaced, but in the past few years the Highway 25 route has turned into little more than a gravel road.

Over the years, moisture seeped in between the base and the surface, turning the aggregate and asphalt into mush.

"The road started falling apart in 2005 and the situation continued to worsen," said Hugh Holak of McCook, District 7 construction engineer for the Nebraska Department of Roads.

Finally, something is being done. At a cost of $4.25 million, a project is now in progress to stabilize the base and top it off with a three-inch covering of new asphalt. The construction work is spread over a 15.2 stretch of Nebraska Highway 25, reaching from Hayes Center to the Hayes-Lincoln county line.

Crews from Brown & Brown of Salina, Kan. started in the middle, with work beginning in late May near the Southwest Feeders cattle feeding facilities.

The first step is what is called fly-ash stabilization. In this process, the Brown & Brown workers grind eight inches of the existing roadway, then add the fly ash and water to create a new base.

The fly ash is the waste product created through coal generation at the Gerald Gentleman power plant near Sutherland. While the fly ash is cheap to buy, the process of installation is not. "In fact, it's one of the more expensive stabilization methods," Holak said. Despite the cost, the condition of the road convinced the state that the quality of fly ash stabilization was worth the added expense.

Once the stabilization work is done, Paulsen Inc. will follow the fly ash installers with the three-inch covering of new asphalt. "The asphalt work is expected to start by the end of July," Holak said.

Meanwhile, the fly ash base project will be ongoing. In the first phase of the base installation, work crews concentrated on the stretch from Southwest Feeders north. After that was completed, they returned to the middle and went back to the south towards Hayes Center. More work remains from Hayes Center north.

The entire project is due for completion by October, Holak said. Roger Ziebell of McCook is serving as project manager for the Department or Roads. Fred Ingold and Curt Van Pelt, also of McCook, are the engineers.