Project Location: Randlett, UT

Project Start: April 2023

Project Completion: October 2023

Project Cost: $6,593,768.88

Key Project Team Members:

• Uintah Special Service District 1 — Owner
• Jones & DeMille Engineering — Engineer
• Geneva Rock Products — General Contractor, Microsurfacing
• Consolidated Paving and Concrete — Subcontractor, Asphalt Pavement Repair
• CKC Operations — Subcontractor, Crack Seal

Project Overview

Seep Ridge Road is a 52-mile-long corridor heading south into the Book Cliffs. The road provides access to major oil and gas extraction operations in Uintah County. The Seep Ridge Road Impact Mitigation Project included repairing settled roadway areas over large culverts and other pavement distress, applying a crack seal to the length of the project, sealing the entire surface with microsurfacing and finally applying paint striping. The final quantities for the project included 1,474,000 square yards of microsurfacing and 9,775 gallons of pavement marking paint.

For this region, chip seals have proven to be a go-to treatment because of their ability to withstand heavy truck traffic and have historically performed well, but other treatments, such as microsurfacing, were also applicable for this roadway. As part of the design process, USSD1 worked with Jones & DeMille Engineering to prepare bidding documents for a standard hard rock chip seal, a lightweight chip seal and microsurfacing.

What Makes the Project Unique

This project is unique as it was one continuous pavement preservation project. Uintah County is no stranger to large projects for pavement preservation, but those typically encompass many roads spread throughout the county. This project also involved multiple stakeholders and received funding from the Permanent Community Impact Fund Board (CIB), the state of Utah, Uintah County and USSD1.

Project Quality

The aggregates for microsurfacing were transported from the Geneva Rock Pelican Point pit. The construction of this road coincided with a period of substantial oil and gas production on federal lands within the county, generating ample revenue for the project. Subsequently, there has been a shift in production towards tribal and private lands, leading to a reduction in available revenue for such projects. Uintah County and USSD1 have concentrated their efforts on the upkeep and preservation of existing infrastructure, aiming to prolong the lifespan of roadways and mitigate overall costs associated with repairs and replacements in the county.

Following the resolution of settlement areas, deep ruts and other asphalt issues, the entire road length was measured with a profilograph. The project bid encompassed both profilograph measurements and several days allocated for profile milling, significantly enhancing the road’s ride quality before the application of the microsurfacing treatment.

During the project’s construction, asphalt rutting was identified in a specific location. Collaboration between Geneva Rock and Jones & DeMille Engineering occurred before the full-width surface sealing, leading to the application of a scratch course that effectively filled the ruts and dramatically improved the road’s smoothness in this location.