Jasper County authorizes testing of East 125th Street North

Jasper County Board of Supervisors approved a proposal from geotechnical engineer TEAM Services, Inc. to complete density and material testing for East 125th Street North, the road leading toward Rock Creek Lake from U.S. Route 6. Officials said the road has been exhibiting problems with its base.

East 125th Street North is about 1.6 miles long. Michael Frietsch, the county engineer, said the road will undergo a full-depth reclamation before it is resurfaced with asphalt. In support of that, Frietsch said the county needs to test the road’s density every 0.25 mile and take some samples of materials.

“It’s about three inches of asphalt over, like, fly ash modified base,” Frietsch said of the road’s condition. “It’s kind of similar to what we got on East 142nd Street South. In other areas it’s about that era of time they did a lot of that — for whatever reason — around here.”

Results from the material tests will tell the secondary roads department if the full-depth reclamation process will work on that road and benefit it. Frietsch said the check plans and designs are done for East 125th Street North, but the testing is the last step before the project is sent to the Iowa Department of Transportation.

The testing was approved in a 3-0 vote on April 2.

According to county documents, the road reconstruction project would consist of applying a stabilizing agent to the existing asphalt and then break down the asphalt to be mixed with the underlying soil and a cement treatment. The testing will occur before with assistance from county secondary roads crews.

Jasper County will remove the pavement in order for TEAM Services to access the subgrade for further testing. Lab tests will also be done on the different soil types discovered, the shoulder material and the road asphalt. Tests will show the strength of the road and if the materials are suitable for cement treatment.

The total cost to complete the testing is $4,480. So long as weather holds up, TEAM Services should be able to schedule field services within 10 working days of notice to proceed, according to the proposal draft included in the board of supervisors agenda. Lab testing will take about four weeks to complete.

TEAM Services will submit its final report within a week after lab tests.