New Grader and Self-Propelled Roller to help improve shire's roads
Strathbogie Shire Council will add another grader and a self-propelled roller to its existing fleet to improve its road network.
Mayor of Strathbogie Shire Council, Howard Myers said, "Council currently has three graders maintaining its unsealed and sealed road network. These graders spend most of their time (out of necessity) attempting to keep the unsealed roads within intervention levels set by Council's Road Management Plan. This requires all the allocated hours available, thus the maintenance of our sealed road shoulder network tends to be given a lower priority."
"Problems occur if the unsealed shoulders are not maintained properly within intervention levels - namely leaving Council open to litigation in the event of an accident. If the unsealed shoulders are not maintained properly it causes "drop off" which is the sudden drop of the edge of the seal. The "drop off" then causes "edge break" which is the fretting away of the edge of seal, causing the seal to narrow thus again possibly creating a dangerous situation and certainly extra maintenance."
Council agreed to purchase a new grader that will be smaller and lighter and with a smaller blade (10ft instead of the normal 12ft). The smaller grader is programmed to primarily grade unsealed shoulders across the shire and will be fitted with a "windrow eliminator" that will allow Council to grade both sides of a sealed road without a 'windrow' on the edge of the bitumen which is more efficient and also eliminates as much risk as possible.
Works Superintendent, Bob Foster said, "With the "windrow eliminator" fitted to the grader it is not possible to tow a roller, so a self-propelled roller will be purchased. The roller will be a second-hand self-propelled vibrating roller. These rollers give much better compaction than our current static rollers and on shoulders this is preferred. When conditions are not suitable for shoulder grading the work unit will be used on grading town streets, car parks and small roads across the shire. Council will also purchase a Ute and employ two staff to operate the machinery."
Mayor Howard Myers said, "In time it is expected that the shire will have a safer sealed road network and we will be giving a much better service to the ratepayers than we are now. It is no secret that our roads have badly needed work. It will also drop our sealed road maintenance costs.
The new grader and self-propelled roller will be funded from Council's Plant Replacement Program and identified savings made from Council's budget process when it consulted with the community in July.