March 31, 2025 • 28 mins
What really causes washboards on gravel roads? How do crews decide which roads get plowed first after a snowstorm? And just how often do grader blades need replacing?
In this episode of the Kneehill Scoop podcast, we dig into the dirt—literally—with Kneehill County’s infrastructure experts Mike Conkin and Mike Ziehr.
Tune in as they break down what it takes to maintain over 2,400 kilometres of rural roads, from dust control and chip seal to snow plowing, gravelling, and everything in between.
Thank you for listening!
Follow Kneehill County on social media for current news and events:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Christine (00:10):
Hello and welcome to episode 3 of the Kneeh ill Scoop
, Kneeh ill County's officialpodcast.
I'm your host, my name isChristine and let's just get
right into this.
Here's some announcements as ofMarch 27th.
S so you may have seen this atthe latest council meeting, but
our ratepayer evenings arecoming back in June of this year
.
The exact dates are to bedetermined yet, but we will be
(00:31):
having one meeting in Huxley andone at Horseshoe Canyon, so
that's a little bit differentfor this year.
If you've never attended aratepayer evening, these are
just a really great opportunityfor you to come out, meet
council, meet our staff, askyour questions, get some
information, have a good supperchat with your neighbors.
It's just, it's a good time,had by all.
So make sure you check ourwebsite and our social media for
(00:53):
upcoming dates for thosemeetings.
Something to also look for weare hiring for seasonal staff,
so we have a few of thesepositions available.
If you're looking for somesummer work, we have vegetation
management, mowing techniciansand also some seasonal support
for our customer service.
So check our website for moreinformation on that.
You may have seen this onsocial media, but you can
(01:15):
nominate a local business forthe Heart of Our Community
Awards.
This is put on by CommunityFutures Wildrose and the
campaign is acceptingnominations for local businesses
who make a difference in thecommunities of Trochu, Three
Hills, Carbon, Rosebud andKneehill County.
So you can nominate someone byMay 30th.
The winner receives a thousanddollars to celebrate their to
(01:35):
communities.
Head to our website there is alink there or you can go right
to the Community FuturesWildrose website and nominate a
deserving business.
Also just announced is ourscholarship program is now
accepting applications for 2025.
So what this program does is itsupports our rural Kneehill
County residents who areenrolled in university, college
(01:56):
or trade school, and twoscholarships of $2,000 each are
awarded each year.
You have to be a rural residentof Kneehill County and I know
this is like where it gets alittle bit confusing but
basically you have to be livingoutside of a town or village and
you must be enrolled in yourfirst year as a full-time
student at a recognizedpost-secondary institution.
The way this kind of works.
(02:17):
Our scholarship recipients arechosen based on 50% is your
written essay, and the essaytopic for 2025 is what
initiatives do you think a ruralmunicipality like Neal County
could take to foster youthentrepreneurship and career
opportunities within the region.
It's very easy to say.
I bet it's even easier to writeabout.
(02:38):
So yeah, that's 50%.
25% are letters of referenceand then 25% are the
contributions to school orcommunity leadership activities
and personal achievements thatyou've taken part of.
So really it's more the markyou make on your community than
the marks you get in school.
So that makes this program alittle bit unique.
You have until June 30th that'sa Monday at 4.30pm, to apply,
(03:01):
but you know it never hurts toget going now.
If you need some moreinformation, it's all on our
website and that's where you'llfind the applications as well.
I just wanted to briefly mentionour council highlights.
So following every councilmeeting, we compile just like a
very brief kind of highlightdocument that covers all the
decisions council made at thelast meeting.
So if you don't have time tokind of sit and watch, or you
(03:22):
you know you're too busy tofollow along on Twitter you can
access this document.
It's on our website, it's alsoadvertised on social media and
it just gives like a briefoverview of what was on the
agenda, council's discussion onthe item, and then their final
decision.
So yeah, just to stay in theknow on what's happening with
council.
I encourage you to check thatout.
So we all know them.
We've all used them.
(03:43):
Chances are you're on one rightnow.
That's right, we're talkingabout roads.
Roads are always a hot topicfor rural municipalities.
Joining me here to chat aboutthem today, we have two Mikes on
the mics.
We have Mike Konkin, who's ourproject supervisor, and Mike
Zier, our director ofinfrastructure.
Thank you for joining me today.
Mike Ziehr (04:01):
Awesome.
Thanks so much for having us.
Christine (04:02):
Okay, this always happens on my laneway.
I feel like I'm somewhatresponsible for them, but what
actually causes washboards onthe roads?
Mike Conkin (04:15):
So washboard is a number of factors.
Dry conditions is one of them.
Speed, obviously, is another one, and then, especially at
intersections, hard accelerationbreaking way to traffic.
All those things play a factorinto washboard being there and
unfortunately, once one littlebounce starts, it's that never
ending effect until it's dealtwith.
So it's one of those hard onesto control completely.
Christine (04:33):
And to fix them.
It's just a matter of grading.
Mike Conkin (04:35):
So when we're fixing the washboard, usually
it'll be in the next rotation,obviously depending on severity.
If concern comes in through oneof our channels there, we will
assess it, and if a grader needsto be moved there sooner than
later, the supervisors will makesure that resource is allocated
to deal with that problem.
Christine (04:51):
Perfect, so you'll be sending them up my laneway.
Mike Ziehr (04:55):
That is a possibility, so many spinning
tires going along there.
Christine (04:58):
Yeah, there's a few, and so what's a typical timeline
for fixing, like if you seepotholes or washboard roads?
Mike Conkin (05:14):
Once again, once we're made aware of them,
whether that be through thesupervisor driving around and
checking them or through aratepayers concern, we will
assess that and get to it in atimely manner.
Once again depends on theseverity.
Certain washboard areas mightjust have to wait until the next
rotation where, if there's anactual safety concern we will be
there as soon as possible.
It's hard to give exacttimelines.
Christine (05:27):
Right, and I'm sure some roads get them a lot more
depending on like the heavytraffic and if there's speeders
on them, right.
Mike Conkin (05:32):
Yeah, volume of traffic plays a huge factor into
that.
Christine (05:36):
So is there anything you can kind of do to prevent
them, just like slow and steady?
Mike Conkin (05:41):
Yeah, slow and steady would definitely help.
Yeah.
Mike Ziehr (05:45):
Yeah, For that point .
I mean we are in a pattern hereof dry conditions and that,
like Mike mentioned, reallycompounds the issue.
Moisture and maintenance arethe really the only things that
can avoid this from reoccurring,because we will go out and
we'll grade a washboard and youneed to cut right into the
washboard to actually eliminateit.
We see the same issues poppingup days after we've gone into a
(06:06):
full maintenance because thesoil conditions, the fines that
are in the gravel, it justcauses that ripple effect that,
like Mike said once, itcompounds.
It just continues to get worseand worse.
So the best thing thatresidents can do is to ease into
accelerating from intersections.
Also, uphills is where we see alot of issues with washboard
(06:27):
and that's the same thing.
Those tires start slipping onthat road and start spinning and
that creates that ripplecompound that pushes the soil
and then expands it out.
Christine (06:36):
Okay, that's good to know.
I had no idea that's how ithappened.
So what are the biggestchallenges in maintaining
Kneehill County roads year round?
Mike Conkin (06:44):
So some of the biggest challenges we face are
weather, whether that be raindelays, dry conditions during
winter months, that would bewind drifting all those things
and just the amount of area thatwe have to cover while meeting
our service deliveries.
Christine (06:58):
Yeah, so much of that is out of your control.
Like you can't help if it snowsand if it's raining and if the
roads get washed out and right,like you're just really at
mother nature's whims or mercy.
Very, very hit and miss withthe weather patterns, and two
miles down the road can be acompletely different environment
.
So how do you decide whichroads need repairs or upgrades
(07:20):
first?
Mike Conkin (07:20):
Road repairs are usually brought up through
ratepayer concerns or beingnoticed by one of the operators
or supervisor.
Those repairs are prioritized,one for safety and two for
severity of it.
We want to make sure all ourroads are open and safe for all
users.
We assess the problems and setproper crews out to those
problems when available, andmaking sure they're dealt with
(07:43):
in a timely manner.
Christine (07:44):
You kind of touched on this already.
But if residents do notice likea road wash out or bad
condition or lots of washboards,how would they let you know?
Mike Conkin (07:51):
So they can either call the county office and leave
a message there, and that willbe passed along.
Or there's an online submissionon our county website that also
goes through the channels there, and then that's where a
service request would be createdand we can assess that
situation from there.
Perfect.
Christine (08:07):
So I know we're kind of heading out of this season,
but we did have quite a bit ofsnow this winter.
So how does the countyprioritize snow removal?
Mike Conkin (08:14):
So Kneehill's winter maintenance program is
outlined in our policy 13-2 forthe paved roads, those are our
priority.
With our plow trucks obviouslythe higher traffic roads or
higher volume traffic roads areplowed first and then we move on
to the lower volume roads.
After that the graders they aresent out once the trigger are
met, and then they will plowtheir divisions.
(08:37):
That three to five days is whatit will take for a division to
be cleared completely.
That still is without goingback and cleaning up all the
little fine details.
There is no set route withinthose grader divisions.
It is just wherever the graderis needed.
Like I said earlier, the weathercould be very different four
(08:57):
miles apart, especially in snowand drifting situations, and the
priority is to get all ourroads open as quick as possible,
as safely as possible.
Christine (09:06):
So what's the process for sanding and salting roads
in icy conditions?
Mike Conkin (09:10):
So sanding and salting obviously happens on our
paved roads and chip sealedroads.
Once the plow is made a minimumof two passes, they start
applying material just dependingon wind conditions.
We don't want to be scrapingthe material off, so that's why
we usually wait till we're onour second pass.
So, with that being said, sandand salt are a great tool, but
they have limitations.
(09:30):
If it is too windy, thematerial either blow right off
the road or it will start tomelt the snow and become a snow
trap itself, which is a wholenother hazard.
They also don't work once it'sbelow like minus 25.
They kind of quit having thesame effect.
So there's definitely timesthat they're needed and
beneficial, and then there'salso times where sanding the
roads is more harmful.
Christine (09:51):
Oh, that's interesting.
I did not know that.
So the roads that we do sandand salt if the conditions are
right those are the same onesthat we put the road bans on
right?
Like our paved chip steel.
Those are kind of the ones we'dmaintain with sand and salt.
Mike Conkin (10:02):
Yeah, that is correct.
Christine (10:03):
Yeah, and hamlets as well.
Or how does it work in hamlets?
Mike Conkin (10:06):
Hamlets will be sanded when it's deemed
necessary.
Try to make sure the roads aresafe for the residents in there
without over sanding justbecause it is get a little messy
.
We obviously do our snowremoval first in the Hamlets and
those plow trucks are out onthe highways.
So once we have assetsavailable to sand if it's
required, is when we would moveinto the Hamlets and we try to
(10:28):
do them one pass down eachstreet.
Make sure that we have propercoverage.
Christine (10:32):
So that makes sense.
And I guess if you have toomuch sand and salt that's kind
of hard on your vehicle tooright.
Mike Conkin (10:37):
Hard on the vehicle , hard on your boots, everything
Christine (10:40):
the car wash bill.
Mike Conkin (10:48):
Makes a mess if not done right, right.
Christine (10:48):
So what would you say the biggest challenge is when
dealing with winter roadmaintenance.
Mike Conkin (10:50):
I would say personally, the wind and
drifting is a huge thing.
The wind plays such a factor inwinter maintenance of making
sure roads are able to be clearand stay clear where you can
have just the lightest skiff ofsnow, and the drifting that can
come from that is justastounding.
It is one of the biggestproblem, I would say.
Christine (11:10):
Yeah, so hard to control.
So, moving on to a bit of roadconstruction, what goes into
deciding whether a road shouldbe paved, regraveled or just
maintained as is?
Mike Ziehr (11:20):
Yeah, awesome question.
I mean there is a lot ofdifferent factors that we kind
of look at when we determineboth road reconstruction, if a
road is to be paved.
We've kind of gone into a bitof a decision matrix on this.
As far as looking at theexisting conditions, so the road
could be in a really goodcondition and prepped for paving
, but then we have no residentsaround so there's not a whole
(11:44):
benefit in paving that.
We look at the traffic counts,we look at future potential
development in the area.
Condition of the road, like Isay, plays a big factor.
When we overlaid the Range Road251 the last few years here we
looked at the proximity toadjacent highways and that sort
of thing.
Those kind of played into thefactor.
As far as where people routetheir traffic to our roads,
(12:07):
we're trying to get them off thegravel roads as efficiently as
possible to put them on thepaved roads, because then that's
less wear and tear on thegravel there.
So there's a whole networkstrategy around that sort of
thing.
Graveling as far as that policyis, every two to seven years we
do an assessment both well,throughout the year, but
(12:27):
primarily in the spring afterthe conditions, the winter
conditions have happened andjust kind of determine, in
consultation with the greateroperators, the road supervisors,
they all determine where ourpriority is going to be for
regraveling.
Christine (12:40):
Okay, good to know.
And are you still looking forgravel?
I remember we did that like gotgravel campaign a few years ago
, but are you still?
Mike Ziehr (12:47):
Yes for sure.
Gravel is a finite resource inthis province and the need for
it is never going to go awayfrom Kneehill County.
So we have a significantresource in Torrington that was
extracted a number of years ago.
It has a lifespan.
Once that has been utilized, weneed to make sure that we're
planning for the replacement ofthat, and we have been so the
(13:09):
last couple of years.
We've gone with a gravelinventory replacement strategy,
looking at different resources,different options for replacing
that gravel.
We feel like we should be ableto provide a recommendation on
this in the near future.
Christine (13:26):
Cool.
So if someone happens tostumble upon a big gravel
reserve in their backyard, theyshould just let us know.
Mike Ziehr (13:33):
Oh, definitely.
So what you spoke about with thegravel, reach out, we did and
we did a bit of an advertisingcampaign the last couple of
years.
Any residents out there thatfeel they have gravel.
We still encourage you to reachout to our department.
We will do an investigation.
We may go out.
We have taken the track, hoeout and dug in and actually
(13:56):
confirmed if there is gravel inthe area, because we want to
limit as far as we can thetravel that we have for all of
our resources.
So they all play into the cost.
The amount of overburden or theamount of cover on top of this
gravel is really important too.
So I will always encourageanyone out there that feels like
(14:17):
they have gravel please reachout to us.
We will.
We will have that conversationfor sure.
Christine (14:22):
Well, I don't have any gravel but I have plenty of
sand if you guys need it.
So can you explain the processof actually graveling the roads,
Like how often it happens andwhat's involved?
Mike Ziehr (14:33):
Yeah, for sure.
Thanks for the question.
So basically, I mean Imentioned a little earlier that
we have in our policy every twoto seven years that really is
contingent on the use of thatroad if we're doing it more
often than the typicalthree-year time frame.
Really, what we've done hereand what the staff here have
done with their innovativeprocesses is commendable.
(14:55):
We're always looking forefficiencies in our, in our
operations here.
I'd say the last five yearswe've really gained ground on
that.
We have implemented newtechniques with our grading,
brought in new technologies withour blades.
So we actually utilize acarbide blade now which,
compared to the old yellowblades, we used to replace those
(15:16):
every four days.
Mike Conkin (15:20):
Two to four days.
Mike Ziehr (15:22):
And now these blades are lasting months and months.
Maybe they go through two setsof blades in a year, so already
the time of replacing thoseblades.
The stress on the operatorbecause they are labor intensive
to replace those blades, thestress on the operator because
they are labor-intensive toreplace those blades, all these
sort of things, that's just oneaspect of it.
So these new carbide bladesstay straight for a very long
(15:43):
time.
They allow a much sharper crownto be created on the road,
which allows water to drain offmore efficiently.
It also allows us to dig alittle bit deeper into that
crust of the gravel road, whichallows us to actually retrieve
gravel that may have beensitting there for the last 10,
15 years and hasn't been exposed.
All those kind of play intothis factor where we are seeing
(16:05):
less and less gravel needing tobe applied on these roads over
the last three years because weare using these techniques to
pull that out of the ground andreuse the gravel that we know is
already in there.
Christine (16:16):
That is so neat I didn't realize you used to
change them every.
What did you say?
Four days?
Mike Ziehr (16:20):
Yes.
Christine (16:20):
To twice a year.
Yeah, that's such a bigdifference.
Mike Ziehr (16:23):
And it's because it's such an abrasive act to
grade right.
So there's changeable blades onall these graders and even
though it's hardened steel, itstill wears down into a bit of a
curve within I mean sometimeswithin the day that metal can be
worn right down.
So these new technologies withthis carbide really, really is a
game changer for us.
Christine (16:44):
That's awesome.
So what are some of the roadprojects that we have planned
for 2025?
Mike Ziehr (16:50):
So I mean, as far as the projects here, we've had
the design on four roadreconstruction projects.
We really focused this year onsafety so we looked at four of
our major problem areas withinthe county.
Either it's side slope failuresor narrow roads.
They're actually spread acrossthe county, these four projects.
(17:12):
So we've got the design doneright now and meeting with
landowners and we should have.
It'll be a contracted job sowe'll have the tender out fairly
soon for construction this yearand they're fairly small in
length jobs but they areimportant for safety primarily,
safety for the traveling publicon these ones.
(17:32):
The other big one we're goingto be doing this year is a
reseal coating of Buffalo JumpRoad.
So that is the east-west sealcoat road, township 344.
Yeah, we're going to resealcoat that, basically put a layer
of chip and oil on top of thatgravel chips.
Christine (17:48):
Okay.
Mike Ziehr (17:48):
And that kind of seals out the moisture, seals
any of the cracks in that.
One of the biggest detrimentsto a surfaced road is exposure
to moisture.
So if you start gettingmoisture entering the subsurface
of that, that's where you getfailures.
It's usually difficult to stopthat once it starts.
So it's really preventativemaintenance at this point that
(18:11):
we're putting this seal coat on,so that we're avoiding problems
, major issues in the future bydoing this minor work now.
Christine (18:18):
Is that similar to what you're doing on the Keivers
Lake Road as well?
Mike Conkin (18:22):
No, it is not Completely So products.
So Keivers Lake campground Road, there is actually one of our
dust control products.
It's spec crude oil.
So it doesn't actually buildany stability to the road.
It is strictly to controlwashboard and dust and help
prevent those things fromhappening.
So it is still a gravel road.
(18:42):
It just has an oil mixture init that hardens to an extent.
Yeah, gravel road it just has anoil mixture in it that hardens
to an extent and also thatproduct will soften with heat
and vehicles on it.
So it's very malleable at thesame time as it may might look
like pavement, but it is veryfar from pavement
Christine (18:57):
Okay, and actually that's a perfect like segue into
talking about dust control.
So, um, you kind of mentioned italready, but what products or
methods are used to keep dustdown on our gravel roads?
Mike Conkin (19:08):
So for dust control products we have two that we
utilize in-house at KneehillCounty.
One would be calcium.
That is a method where we go andblade in front of a resident's
house.
We will apply water, thencalcium, blade the road, again
water and calcium on top.
That would be a fullapplication method as well, as
we'd gravel it beforehand ifneeded, has to be an appropriate
(19:30):
amount of material there tomake that work, then spec crude
would be our second product andthat that's like what I was
saying.
It's that oil product.
It looks like pavement.
It's not pavement.
It is uh strictly to controldust and washboard and that it
is uh still very malleable andstuff in the heat, especially in
big trucks turning on it,tractors, everything.
It's a great product forcontrolling dust, not for
(19:53):
turning and twisting on.
Christine (19:54):
But right, it works and the spec crude typically
lasts a lot longer than thecalcium
Mike Conkin (20:00):
Yes, so our specs vary very greatly depends on
where either product is appliedand weather conditions around
those products and use of thoseproducts, volume on the road for
traffic.
So spec, ideally you would seea minimum 2 two thing.
No guarantees on that,obviously, depending on what's
(20:20):
going on.
And then we've seen them lastupwards of eight years.
other ones are two or threeyears.
Benefit to spec is we canpotentially rip and relay it if
it's starting to get into poorcondition, depending on the
amount of oil residue left in it.
The road supervisor can makethat determination with the
greater operators to go rip itup and relay it.
(20:41):
And sometimes it packs back infor a year.
It's definitely not when it'sfirst applied, but there's still
that dust control in there.
Christine (20:49):
So then does it kind of change the road maintenance
if you do have dust control outfront?
Does it change like grading andthat kind of thing?
Mike Conkin (20:57):
So with calcium the graders will just pick calcium
or spec graders will just bladeup to it.
Calcium's a little easier onthe maintenance side of things
where if it is deemed that it'sa hazard with potholes and stuff
, the road supervisor will getin contact with the adjacent
property that that's controllingdust for and let them know that
we're going to blade through itto eliminate those hazards.
(21:19):
Spec crude it is patched with acold mix so it does have a
little bit increased maintenancedepending on the quality of
that spec.
Usually we try to do we goaround twice a year at minimum
and then obviously, as potholesshow up and concerns are brought
to our attention, we deal withthose and send a crew out to
(21:40):
make sure they're patched andlasting as long as possible.
Christine (21:44):
Awesome and that usually comes up in May.
Is that when we put out ourdust control applications?
Mike Ziehr (21:50):
So actually every year we reach out to our
suppliers and get pricing inMarch for that and then it's a
council decision.
Every year we bring it forwardto them for setting their rates
every year.
We have done quite a bit ofanalysis the last few years here
, trying to fine tune thosecalculations to make sure that
we're providing close to a fullcost recovery on those.
Christine (22:13):
So just stay tuned for that.
You'll see that on social mediaand we'll be advertising that
in the newspaper and everythingonce dust control is available.
So we did kind of talk aboutthis a little bit.
But how do heavy trucks andfarm equipment impact road
conditions?
Mike Ziehr (22:28):
Yeah, definitely Any larger traffic affects the road
network, the road structure,more than passenger vehicles.
We're well aware that theindustry in the area both
agriculture and energy they needthese roads to make sure that
they can provide appropriateservices.
So we look at making sure,primarily, that we can keep
(22:52):
these roads open, keep theseroads safe.
A few different things.
So if it's a banned road, thereactually is an option for an
agriculture industry.
If they're moving an agcommodity, they can actually
apply to us to get an exemptionon that.
If basically landlocked,there's no other way of getting
out of their site or even fromfield to field.
If they need to do this,definitely contact the county.
(23:13):
We can look at that and likelygrant an exemption on making
sure that you can move and we'retrying not to hinder any of the
industries in here while stillprotecting our roads and the
county's roads.
Christine (23:26):
Right, and those road bans are still in effect as of
right now.
Does that change fairly soon orjust kind of like keep an eye
on it and see?
Mike Ziehr (23:33):
Yeah, typically it's .
I mean, what we're reallylooking at is the frost coming
out of the ground.
So the frost coming out, thefrost heaves, the freezing
melting right now that's whatreally affects these roads.
So to keep the heavier trafficlimited on them, we typically
see these bans come off in May.
So again, weather condition ifwe have really hot weather
(23:54):
coming up earlier than normal,we may advance that.
We try and give the public asmuch notice as possible.
But if we need to put a ban onearlier than normal, the
protection of the road isparamount.
Christine (24:07):
Yeah, absolutely so.
What's something most peopledon't realize about maintaining
rural roads?
Mike Conkin (24:13):
So something most people don't realize about
maintenance of rural roads isthe amount of them.
So Kneehill County hasapproximately 1,900 kilometers
of gravel road that we maintainand make 2,400 kilometers of
road in total, including chipseal, dirt, and gravel.
So it seems easy in theory tomake sure all those roads are in
(24:33):
the same condition all the time, but it's definitely a very
difficult process to make surethat we're getting around to all
those roads and making surethey're all up to snuff and
taken care of.
Christine (24:43):
So we really do rely a little bit on people letting
us know about problems.
Mike Conkin (24:47):
Absolutely.
We really encourage anybody notjust ratepayers to call in or
go online and make sure they'reletting us know if there's a
concern out there that wehaven't noticed yet.
There's a lot of miles outthere that we need to cover and
it takes a lot of eyes on thatto make sure it's done safely.
Christine (25:03):
So if you ever see a problem, you can use our Report
a Concern form on the website,or just give us a call at
403-443-5541.
And so, yes, Mike, sorry, go on.
Mike Ziehr (25:17):
Sorry.
I just wanted to mention that.
Like Mike says, call us and wedocument it.
We actually put it into a workorder system.
So, regardless of how it comesto us phone calls, the online
form we encourage people to usethose medias because we actually
take that data, we track it, weassign it to repairs.
(25:40):
We can go back and actuallyanalyze if there's been a number
of repairs in the same area.
Maybe we need to look a littledeeper as to the problem behind
that, or maybe it's even on areconstruction program in the
future, because there's been somany issues with drifting in
this one spot.
Maybe we redesign the road tomove that.
So we really encourage thepublic to reach out to us
whenever they see a concern likethat, and that's what helps us
(26:03):
make the roads better foreverybody.
Christine (26:05):
And then.
So the other way around is howdo we kind of keep our residents
informed about road work anddetours?
?
Mike Ziehr (26:13):
I think we're really cognizant of communication here
at the county.
We want to make sure that we'renot surprising any of the
residents with any of the workwe're doing something to the
best of our abilities.
We hope that we can communicatethat out prior to that work.
So we do that through a fewdifferent ways.
That we can communicate thatout prior to that work.
So we do that through a fewdifferent ways.
Social media and our websiteare definitely one method.
We also look at even if it's anindividual reach out to a
(26:34):
resident.
If we're doing some treetrimming in front of their or
brushing in front of their place, we normally go in and knock on
doors or give them a phone call.
We try and do that as much aswe can, knowing that there's
limitations.
We can't reach out to everyoneif it's bare land, I mean
there's some restrictions inthat.
But we have message boards thatwe try and put up before
certain projects.
We really just want tocommunicate to the public as
(26:56):
much as we can to keep that openline of communication back and
forth.
Christine (26:59):
Yeah, absolutely and we do try to include, like, if
we know there's road projectscoming up, that'll often be in
Ratepayer newsletter, just tokind of give the public a heads
up.
We also do have on our website,on our road ban page, you can
sign up to be notified of anyroad closures.
The only problem there is thatit's not like specific to your
area so you'll be notified ofany road closure in the county,
(27:21):
but that is one method that wealso have.
Okay, awesome, I think that.
I think that's a good place towrap it up today.
So I just want to thank you,Mikes, for being on the mics.
I've been waiting all month tosay that.
Mike Ziehr (27:32):
Oh, how much fun.
And just so you know, it's nota prerequisite to work at the
county.
You don't have to be named Mikenecessarily.
Christine (27:38):
I don't know.
I don't know if I believe that.
Awesome.
So thanks again for being withus today and for tuning in, and
next up on the podcast we haveemergency management.
So if you have any questionsthat you would like to ask our
emergency management or ourprotective services team, make
sure you head over to ourwebsite on our podcast page.
(27:59):
There's a spot there where youcan fill in any questions you
have and we'll make sure toinclude them in our next podcast
, which should be happening endof April-ish, so make sure you
tune in.
Hello and welcome to episode 3 of the Kneeh ill Scoop
, Kneeh ill County's officialpodcast.
I'm your host, my name isChristine and let's just get
right into this.
Here's some announcements as ofMarch 27th.
S so you may have seen this atthe latest council meeting, but
our ratepayer evenings arecoming back in June of this year
.
The exact dates are to bedetermined yet, but we will be
(00:31):
having one meeting in Huxley andone at Horseshoe Canyon, so
that's a little bit differentfor this year.
If you've never attended aratepayer evening, these are
just a really great opportunityfor you to come out, meet
council, meet our staff, askyour questions, get some
information, have a good supperchat with your neighbors.
It's just, it's a good time,had by all.
So make sure you check ourwebsite and our social media for
(00:53):
upcoming dates for thosemeetings.
Something to also look for weare hiring for seasonal staff,
so we have a few of thesepositions available.
If you're looking for somesummer work, we have vegetation
management, mowing techniciansand also some seasonal support
for our customer service.
So check our website for moreinformation on that.
You may have seen this onsocial media, but you can
(01:15):
nominate a local business forthe Heart of Our Community
Awards.
This is put on by CommunityFutures Wildrose and the
campaign is acceptingnominations for local businesses
who make a difference in thecommunities of Trochu, Three
Hills, Carbon, Rosebud andKneehill County.
So you can nominate someone byMay 30th.
The winner receives a thousanddollars to celebrate their to
(01:35):
communities.
Head to our website there is alink there or you can go right
to the Community FuturesWildrose website and nominate a
deserving business.
Also just announced is ourscholarship program is now
accepting applications for 2025.
So what this program does is itsupports our rural Kneehill
County residents who areenrolled in university, college
(01:56):
or trade school, and twoscholarships of $2,000 each are
awarded each year.
You have to be a rural residentof Kneehill County and I know
this is like where it gets alittle bit confusing but
basically you have to be livingoutside of a town or village and
you must be enrolled in yourfirst year as a full-time
student at a recognizedpost-secondary institution.
The way this kind of works.
(02:17):
Our scholarship recipients arechosen based on 50% is your
written essay, and the essaytopic for 2025 is what
initiatives do you think a ruralmunicipality like Neal County
could take to foster youthentrepreneurship and career
opportunities within the region.
It's very easy to say.
I bet it's even easier to writeabout.
(02:38):
So yeah, that's 50%.
25% are letters of referenceand then 25% are the
contributions to school orcommunity leadership activities
and personal achievements thatyou've taken part of.
So really it's more the markyou make on your community than
the marks you get in school.
So that makes this program alittle bit unique.
You have until June 30th that'sa Monday at 4.30pm, to apply,
(03:01):
but you know it never hurts toget going now.
If you need some moreinformation, it's all on our
website and that's where you'llfind the applications as well.
I just wanted to briefly mentionour council highlights.
So following every councilmeeting, we compile just like a
very brief kind of highlightdocument that covers all the
decisions council made at thelast meeting.
So if you don't have time tokind of sit and watch, or you
(03:22):
you know you're too busy tofollow along on Twitter you can
access this document.
It's on our website, it's alsoadvertised on social media and
it just gives like a briefoverview of what was on the
agenda, council's discussion onthe item, and then their final
decision.
So yeah, just to stay in theknow on what's happening with
council.
I encourage you to check thatout.
So we all know them.
We've all used them.
(03:43):
Chances are you're on one rightnow.
That's right, we're talkingabout roads.
Roads are always a hot topicfor rural municipalities.
Joining me here to chat aboutthem today, we have two Mikes on
the mics.
We have Mike Konkin, who's ourproject supervisor, and Mike
Zier, our director ofinfrastructure.
Thank you for joining me today.
Mike Ziehr (04:01):
Awesome.
Thanks so much for having us.
Christine (04:02):
Okay, this always happens on my laneway.
I feel like I'm somewhatresponsible for them, but what
actually causes washboards onthe roads?
Mike Conkin (04:15):
So washboard is a number of factors.
Dry conditions is one of them.
Speed, obviously, is another one, and then, especially at
intersections, hard accelerationbreaking way to traffic.
All those things play a factorinto washboard being there and
unfortunately, once one littlebounce starts, it's that never
ending effect until it's dealtwith.
So it's one of those hard onesto control completely.
Christine (04:33):
And to fix them.
It's just a matter of grading.
Mike Conkin (04:35):
So when we're fixing the washboard, usually
it'll be in the next rotation,obviously depending on severity.
If concern comes in through oneof our channels there, we will
assess it, and if a grader needsto be moved there sooner than
later, the supervisors will makesure that resource is allocated
to deal with that problem.
Christine (04:51):
Perfect, so you'll be sending them up my laneway.
Mike Ziehr (04:55):
That is a possibility, so many spinning
tires going along there.
Christine (04:58):
Yeah, there's a few, and so what's a typical timeline
for fixing, like if you seepotholes or washboard roads?
Mike Conkin (05:14):
Once again, once we're made aware of them,
whether that be through thesupervisor driving around and
checking them or through aratepayers concern, we will
assess that and get to it in atimely manner.
Once again depends on theseverity.
Certain washboard areas mightjust have to wait until the next
rotation where, if there's anactual safety concern we will be
there as soon as possible.
It's hard to give exacttimelines.
Christine (05:27):
Right, and I'm sure some roads get them a lot more
depending on like the heavytraffic and if there's speeders
on them, right.
Mike Conkin (05:32):
Yeah, volume of traffic plays a huge factor into
that.
Christine (05:36):
So is there anything you can kind of do to prevent
them, just like slow and steady?
Mike Conkin (05:41):
Yeah, slow and steady would definitely help.
Yeah.
Mike Ziehr (05:45):
Yeah, For that point .
I mean we are in a pattern hereof dry conditions and that,
like Mike mentioned, reallycompounds the issue.
Moisture and maintenance arethe really the only things that
can avoid this from reoccurring,because we will go out and
we'll grade a washboard and youneed to cut right into the
washboard to actually eliminateit.
We see the same issues poppingup days after we've gone into a
(06:06):
full maintenance because thesoil conditions, the fines that
are in the gravel, it justcauses that ripple effect that,
like Mike said once, itcompounds.
It just continues to get worseand worse.
So the best thing thatresidents can do is to ease into
accelerating from intersections.
Also, uphills is where we see alot of issues with washboard
(06:27):
and that's the same thing.
Those tires start slipping onthat road and start spinning and
that creates that ripplecompound that pushes the soil
and then expands it out.
Christine (06:36):
Okay, that's good to know.
I had no idea that's how ithappened.
So what are the biggestchallenges in maintaining
Kneehill County roads year round?
Mike Conkin (06:44):
So some of the biggest challenges we face are
weather, whether that be raindelays, dry conditions during
winter months, that would bewind drifting all those things
and just the amount of area thatwe have to cover while meeting
our service deliveries.
Christine (06:58):
Yeah, so much of that is out of your control.
Like you can't help if it snowsand if it's raining and if the
roads get washed out and right,like you're just really at
mother nature's whims or mercy.
Very, very hit and miss withthe weather patterns, and two
miles down the road can be acompletely different environment
.
So how do you decide whichroads need repairs or upgrades
(07:20):
first?
Mike Conkin (07:20):
Road repairs are usually brought up through
ratepayer concerns or beingnoticed by one of the operators
or supervisor.
Those repairs are prioritized,one for safety and two for
severity of it.
We want to make sure all ourroads are open and safe for all
users.
We assess the problems and setproper crews out to those
problems when available, andmaking sure they're dealt with
(07:43):
in a timely manner.
Christine (07:44):
You kind of touched on this already.
But if residents do notice likea road wash out or bad
condition or lots of washboards,how would they let you know?
Mike Conkin (07:51):
So they can either call the county office and leave
a message there, and that willbe passed along.
Or there's an online submissionon our county website that also
goes through the channels there, and then that's where a
service request would be createdand we can assess that
situation from there.
Perfect.
Christine (08:07):
So I know we're kind of heading out of this season,
but we did have quite a bit ofsnow this winter.
So how does the countyprioritize snow removal?
Mike Conkin (08:14):
So Kneehill's winter maintenance program is
outlined in our policy 13-2 forthe paved roads, those are our
priority.
With our plow trucks obviouslythe higher traffic roads or
higher volume traffic roads areplowed first and then we move on
to the lower volume roads.
After that the graders they aresent out once the trigger are
met, and then they will plowtheir divisions.
(08:37):
That three to five days is whatit will take for a division to
be cleared completely.
That still is without goingback and cleaning up all the
little fine details.
There is no set route withinthose grader divisions.
It is just wherever the graderis needed.
Like I said earlier, the weathercould be very different four
(08:57):
miles apart, especially in snowand drifting situations, and the
priority is to get all ourroads open as quick as possible,
as safely as possible.
Christine (09:06):
So what's the process for sanding and salting roads
in icy conditions?
Mike Conkin (09:10):
So sanding and salting obviously happens on our
paved roads and chip sealedroads.
Once the plow is made a minimumof two passes, they start
applying material just dependingon wind conditions.
We don't want to be scrapingthe material off, so that's why
we usually wait till we're onour second pass.
So, with that being said, sandand salt are a great tool, but
they have limitations.
(09:30):
If it is too windy, thematerial either blow right off
the road or it will start tomelt the snow and become a snow
trap itself, which is a wholenother hazard.
They also don't work once it'sbelow like minus 25.
They kind of quit having thesame effect.
So there's definitely timesthat they're needed and
beneficial, and then there'salso times where sanding the
roads is more harmful.
Christine (09:51):
Oh, that's interesting.
I did not know that.
So the roads that we do sandand salt if the conditions are
right those are the same onesthat we put the road bans on
right?
Like our paved chip steel.
Those are kind of the ones we'dmaintain with sand and salt.
Mike Conkin (10:02):
Yeah, that is correct.
Christine (10:03):
Yeah, and hamlets as well.
Or how does it work in hamlets?
Mike Conkin (10:06):
Hamlets will be sanded when it's deemed
necessary.
Try to make sure the roads aresafe for the residents in there
without over sanding justbecause it is get a little messy
.
We obviously do our snowremoval first in the Hamlets and
those plow trucks are out onthe highways.
So once we have assetsavailable to sand if it's
required, is when we would moveinto the Hamlets and we try to
(10:28):
do them one pass down eachstreet.
Make sure that we have propercoverage.
Christine (10:32):
So that makes sense.
And I guess if you have toomuch sand and salt that's kind
of hard on your vehicle tooright.
Mike Conkin (10:37):
Hard on the vehicle , hard on your boots, everything
Christine (10:40):
the car wash bill.
Mike Conkin (10:48):
Makes a mess if not done right, right.
Christine (10:48):
So what would you say the biggest challenge is when
dealing with winter roadmaintenance.
Mike Conkin (10:50):
I would say personally, the wind and
drifting is a huge thing.
The wind plays such a factor inwinter maintenance of making
sure roads are able to be clearand stay clear where you can
have just the lightest skiff ofsnow, and the drifting that can
come from that is justastounding.
It is one of the biggestproblem, I would say.
Christine (11:10):
Yeah, so hard to control.
So, moving on to a bit of roadconstruction, what goes into
deciding whether a road shouldbe paved, regraveled or just
maintained as is?
Mike Ziehr (11:20):
Yeah, awesome question.
I mean there is a lot ofdifferent factors that we kind
of look at when we determineboth road reconstruction, if a
road is to be paved.
We've kind of gone into a bitof a decision matrix on this.
As far as looking at theexisting conditions, so the road
could be in a really goodcondition and prepped for paving
, but then we have no residentsaround so there's not a whole
(11:44):
benefit in paving that.
We look at the traffic counts,we look at future potential
development in the area.
Condition of the road, like Isay, plays a big factor.
When we overlaid the Range Road251 the last few years here we
looked at the proximity toadjacent highways and that sort
of thing.
Those kind of played into thefactor.
As far as where people routetheir traffic to our roads,
(12:07):
we're trying to get them off thegravel roads as efficiently as
possible to put them on thepaved roads, because then that's
less wear and tear on thegravel there.
So there's a whole networkstrategy around that sort of
thing.
Graveling as far as that policyis, every two to seven years we
do an assessment both well,throughout the year, but
(12:27):
primarily in the spring afterthe conditions, the winter
conditions have happened andjust kind of determine, in
consultation with the greateroperators, the road supervisors,
they all determine where ourpriority is going to be for
regraveling.
Christine (12:40):
Okay, good to know.
And are you still looking forgravel?
I remember we did that like gotgravel campaign a few years ago
, but are you still?
Mike Ziehr (12:47):
Yes for sure.
Gravel is a finite resource inthis province and the need for
it is never going to go awayfrom Kneehill County.
So we have a significantresource in Torrington that was
extracted a number of years ago.
It has a lifespan.
Once that has been utilized, weneed to make sure that we're
planning for the replacement ofthat, and we have been so the
(13:09):
last couple of years.
We've gone with a gravelinventory replacement strategy,
looking at different resources,different options for replacing
that gravel.
We feel like we should be ableto provide a recommendation on
this in the near future.
Christine (13:26):
Cool.
So if someone happens tostumble upon a big gravel
reserve in their backyard, theyshould just let us know.
Mike Ziehr (13:33):
Oh, definitely.
So what you spoke about with thegravel, reach out, we did and
we did a bit of an advertisingcampaign the last couple of
years.
Any residents out there thatfeel they have gravel.
We still encourage you to reachout to our department.
We will do an investigation.
We may go out.
We have taken the track, hoeout and dug in and actually
(13:56):
confirmed if there is gravel inthe area, because we want to
limit as far as we can thetravel that we have for all of
our resources.
So they all play into the cost.
The amount of overburden or theamount of cover on top of this
gravel is really important too.
So I will always encourageanyone out there that feels like
(14:17):
they have gravel please reachout to us.
We will.
We will have that conversationfor sure.
Christine (14:22):
Well, I don't have any gravel but I have plenty of
sand if you guys need it.
So can you explain the processof actually graveling the roads,
Like how often it happens andwhat's involved?
Mike Ziehr (14:33):
Yeah, for sure.
Thanks for the question.
So basically, I mean Imentioned a little earlier that
we have in our policy every twoto seven years that really is
contingent on the use of thatroad if we're doing it more
often than the typicalthree-year time frame.
Really, what we've done hereand what the staff here have
done with their innovativeprocesses is commendable.
(14:55):
We're always looking forefficiencies in our, in our
operations here.
I'd say the last five yearswe've really gained ground on
that.
We have implemented newtechniques with our grading,
brought in new technologies withour blades.
So we actually utilize acarbide blade now which,
compared to the old yellowblades, we used to replace those
(15:16):
every four days.
Mike Conkin (15:20):
Two to four days.
Mike Ziehr (15:22):
And now these blades are lasting months and months.
Maybe they go through two setsof blades in a year, so already
the time of replacing thoseblades.
The stress on the operatorbecause they are labor intensive
to replace those blades, thestress on the operator because
they are labor-intensive toreplace those blades, all these
sort of things, that's just oneaspect of it.
So these new carbide bladesstay straight for a very long
(15:43):
time.
They allow a much sharper crownto be created on the road,
which allows water to drain offmore efficiently.
It also allows us to dig alittle bit deeper into that
crust of the gravel road, whichallows us to actually retrieve
gravel that may have beensitting there for the last 10,
15 years and hasn't been exposed.
All those kind of play intothis factor where we are seeing
(16:05):
less and less gravel needing tobe applied on these roads over
the last three years because weare using these techniques to
pull that out of the ground andreuse the gravel that we know is
already in there.
Christine (16:16):
That is so neat I didn't realize you used to
change them every.
What did you say?
Four days?
Mike Ziehr (16:20):
Yes.
Christine (16:20):
To twice a year.
Yeah, that's such a bigdifference.
Mike Ziehr (16:23):
And it's because it's such an abrasive act to
grade right.
So there's changeable blades onall these graders and even
though it's hardened steel, itstill wears down into a bit of a
curve within I mean sometimeswithin the day that metal can be
worn right down.
So these new technologies withthis carbide really, really is a
game changer for us.
Christine (16:44):
That's awesome.
So what are some of the roadprojects that we have planned
for 2025?
Mike Ziehr (16:50):
So I mean, as far as the projects here, we've had
the design on four roadreconstruction projects.
We really focused this year onsafety so we looked at four of
our major problem areas withinthe county.
Either it's side slope failuresor narrow roads.
They're actually spread acrossthe county, these four projects.
(17:12):
So we've got the design doneright now and meeting with
landowners and we should have.
It'll be a contracted job sowe'll have the tender out fairly
soon for construction this yearand they're fairly small in
length jobs but they areimportant for safety primarily,
safety for the traveling publicon these ones.
(17:32):
The other big one we're goingto be doing this year is a
reseal coating of Buffalo JumpRoad.
So that is the east-west sealcoat road, township 344.
Yeah, we're going to resealcoat that, basically put a layer
of chip and oil on top of thatgravel chips.
Christine (17:48):
Okay.
Mike Ziehr (17:48):
And that kind of seals out the moisture, seals
any of the cracks in that.
One of the biggest detrimentsto a surfaced road is exposure
to moisture.
So if you start gettingmoisture entering the subsurface
of that, that's where you getfailures.
It's usually difficult to stopthat once it starts.
So it's really preventativemaintenance at this point that
(18:11):
we're putting this seal coat on,so that we're avoiding problems
, major issues in the future bydoing this minor work now.
Christine (18:18):
Is that similar to what you're doing on the Keivers
Lake Road as well?
Mike Conkin (18:22):
No, it is not Completely So products.
So Keivers Lake campground Road, there is actually one of our
dust control products.
It's spec crude oil.
So it doesn't actually buildany stability to the road.
It is strictly to controlwashboard and dust and help
prevent those things fromhappening.
So it is still a gravel road.
(18:42):
It just has an oil mixture init that hardens to an extent.
Yeah, gravel road it just has anoil mixture in it that hardens
to an extent and also thatproduct will soften with heat
and vehicles on it.
So it's very malleable at thesame time as it may might look
like pavement, but it is veryfar from pavement
Christine (18:57):
Okay, and actually that's a perfect like segue into
talking about dust control.
So, um, you kind of mentioned italready, but what products or
methods are used to keep dustdown on our gravel roads?
Mike Conkin (19:08):
So for dust control products we have two that we
utilize in-house at KneehillCounty.
One would be calcium.
That is a method where we go andblade in front of a resident's
house.
We will apply water, thencalcium, blade the road, again
water and calcium on top.
That would be a fullapplication method as well, as
we'd gravel it beforehand ifneeded, has to be an appropriate
(19:30):
amount of material there tomake that work, then spec crude
would be our second product andthat that's like what I was
saying.
It's that oil product.
It looks like pavement.
It's not pavement.
It is uh strictly to controldust and washboard and that it
is uh still very malleable andstuff in the heat, especially in
big trucks turning on it,tractors, everything.
It's a great product forcontrolling dust, not for
(19:53):
turning and twisting on.
Christine (19:54):
But right, it works and the spec crude typically
lasts a lot longer than thecalcium
Mike Conkin (20:00):
Yes, so our specs vary very greatly depends on
where either product is appliedand weather conditions around
those products and use of thoseproducts, volume on the road for
traffic.
So spec, ideally you would seea minimum 2 two thing.
No guarantees on that,obviously, depending on what's
(20:20):
going on.
And then we've seen them lastupwards of eight years.
other ones are two or threeyears.
Benefit to spec is we canpotentially rip and relay it if
it's starting to get into poorcondition, depending on the
amount of oil residue left in it.
The road supervisor can makethat determination with the
greater operators to go rip itup and relay it.
(20:41):
And sometimes it packs back infor a year.
It's definitely not when it'sfirst applied, but there's still
that dust control in there.
Christine (20:49):
So then does it kind of change the road maintenance
if you do have dust control outfront?
Does it change like grading andthat kind of thing?
Mike Conkin (20:57):
So with calcium the graders will just pick calcium
or spec graders will just bladeup to it.
Calcium's a little easier onthe maintenance side of things
where if it is deemed that it'sa hazard with potholes and stuff
, the road supervisor will getin contact with the adjacent
property that that's controllingdust for and let them know that
we're going to blade through itto eliminate those hazards.
(21:19):
Spec crude it is patched with acold mix so it does have a
little bit increased maintenancedepending on the quality of
that spec.
Usually we try to do we goaround twice a year at minimum
and then obviously, as potholesshow up and concerns are brought
to our attention, we deal withthose and send a crew out to
(21:40):
make sure they're patched andlasting as long as possible.
Christine (21:44):
Awesome and that usually comes up in May.
Is that when we put out ourdust control applications?
Mike Ziehr (21:50):
So actually every year we reach out to our
suppliers and get pricing inMarch for that and then it's a
council decision.
Every year we bring it forwardto them for setting their rates
every year.
We have done quite a bit ofanalysis the last few years here
, trying to fine tune thosecalculations to make sure that
we're providing close to a fullcost recovery on those.
Christine (22:13):
So just stay tuned for that.
You'll see that on social mediaand we'll be advertising that
in the newspaper and everythingonce dust control is available.
So we did kind of talk aboutthis a little bit.
But how do heavy trucks andfarm equipment impact road
conditions?
Mike Ziehr (22:28):
Yeah, definitely Any larger traffic affects the road
network, the road structure,more than passenger vehicles.
We're well aware that theindustry in the area both
agriculture and energy they needthese roads to make sure that
they can provide appropriateservices.
So we look at making sure,primarily, that we can keep
(22:52):
these roads open, keep theseroads safe.
A few different things.
So if it's a banned road, thereactually is an option for an
agriculture industry.
If they're moving an agcommodity, they can actually
apply to us to get an exemptionon that.
If basically landlocked,there's no other way of getting
out of their site or even fromfield to field.
If they need to do this,definitely contact the county.
(23:13):
We can look at that and likelygrant an exemption on making
sure that you can move and we'retrying not to hinder any of the
industries in here while stillprotecting our roads and the
county's roads.
Christine (23:26):
Right, and those road bans are still in effect as of
right now.
Does that change fairly soon orjust kind of like keep an eye
on it and see?
Mike Ziehr (23:33):
Yeah, typically it's .
I mean, what we're reallylooking at is the frost coming
out of the ground.
So the frost coming out, thefrost heaves, the freezing
melting right now that's whatreally affects these roads.
So to keep the heavier trafficlimited on them, we typically
see these bans come off in May.
So again, weather condition ifwe have really hot weather
(23:54):
coming up earlier than normal,we may advance that.
We try and give the public asmuch notice as possible.
But if we need to put a ban onearlier than normal, the
protection of the road isparamount.
Christine (24:07):
Yeah, absolutely so.
What's something most peopledon't realize about maintaining
rural roads?
Mike Conkin (24:13):
So something most people don't realize about
maintenance of rural roads isthe amount of them.
So Kneehill County hasapproximately 1,900 kilometers
of gravel road that we maintainand make 2,400 kilometers of
road in total, including chipseal, dirt, and gravel.
So it seems easy in theory tomake sure all those roads are in
(24:33):
the same condition all the time, but it's definitely a very
difficult process to make surethat we're getting around to all
those roads and making surethey're all up to snuff and
taken care of.
Christine (24:43):
So we really do rely a little bit on people letting
us know about problems.
Mike Conkin (24:47):
Absolutely.
We really encourage anybody notjust ratepayers to call in or
go online and make sure they'reletting us know if there's a
concern out there that wehaven't noticed yet.
There's a lot of miles outthere that we need to cover and
it takes a lot of eyes on thatto make sure it's done safely.
Christine (25:03):
So if you ever see a problem, you can use our Report
a Concern form on the website,or just give us a call at
403-443-5541.
And so, yes, Mike, sorry, go on.
Mike Ziehr (25:17):
Sorry.
I just wanted to mention that.
Like Mike says, call us and wedocument it.
We actually put it into a workorder system.
So, regardless of how it comesto us phone calls, the online
form we encourage people to usethose medias because we actually
take that data, we track it, weassign it to repairs.
(25:40):
We can go back and actuallyanalyze if there's been a number
of repairs in the same area.
Maybe we need to look a littledeeper as to the problem behind
that, or maybe it's even on areconstruction program in the
future, because there's been somany issues with drifting in
this one spot.
Maybe we redesign the road tomove that.
So we really encourage thepublic to reach out to us
whenever they see a concern likethat, and that's what helps us
(26:03):
make the roads better foreverybody.
Christine (26:05):
And then.
So the other way around is howdo we kind of keep our residents
informed about road work anddetours?
?
Mike Ziehr (26:13):
I think we're really cognizant of communication here
at the county.
We want to make sure that we'renot surprising any of the
residents with any of the workwe're doing something to the
best of our abilities.
We hope that we can communicatethat out prior to that work.
So we do that through a fewdifferent ways.
That we can communicate thatout prior to that work.
So we do that through a fewdifferent ways.
Social media and our websiteare definitely one method.
We also look at even if it's anindividual reach out to a
(26:34):
resident.
If we're doing some treetrimming in front of their or
brushing in front of their place, we normally go in and knock on
doors or give them a phone call.
We try and do that as much aswe can, knowing that there's
limitations.
We can't reach out to everyoneif it's bare land, I mean
there's some restrictions inthat.
But we have message boards thatwe try and put up before
certain projects.
We really just want tocommunicate to the public as
(26:56):
much as we can to keep that openline of communication back and
forth.
Christine (26:59):
Yeah, absolutely and we do try to include, like, if
we know there's road projectscoming up, that'll often be in
Ratepayer newsletter, just tokind of give the public a heads
up.
We also do have on our website,on our road ban page, you can
sign up to be notified of anyroad closures.
The only problem there is thatit's not like specific to your
area so you'll be notified ofany road closure in the county,
(27:21):
but that is one method that wealso have.
Okay, awesome, I think that.
I think that's a good place towrap it up today.
So I just want to thank you,Mikes, for being on the mics.
I've been waiting all month tosay that.
Mike Ziehr (27:32):
Oh, how much fun.
And just so you know, it's nota prerequisite to work at the
county.
You don't have to be named Mikenecessarily.
Christine (27:38):
I don't know.
I don't know if I believe that.
Awesome.
So thanks again for being withus today and for tuning in, and
next up on the podcast we haveemergency management.
So if you have any questionsthat you would like to ask our
emergency management or ourprotective services team, make
sure you head over to ourwebsite on our podcast page.
(27:59):
There's a spot there where youcan fill in any questions you
have and we'll make sure toinclude them in our next podcast
, which should be happening endof April-ish, so make sure you
tune in.
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