Despite buckling twice, St. Joseph County satisfied with concrete overlay road area

Crews had to temporarily close the highway, from Dragoon Trail to Ireland Road, in May and June to replace 4-foot-by-4-foot concrete panels that had popped up, said county engineer Jessica Clark.

As a sort of experiment, the county in 2007 laid 4 inches of concrete on the road, rather than milling off the top layer of asphalt and adding new asphalt. The vast majority of the county’s roads are asphalt.

At the time, the county sought bids for asphalt and concrete overlay, but the concrete bid came in slightly lower — $257,000 for concrete compared with $275,000 for asphalt. Concrete overlay projects also take less time.

The county decided to try the concrete, which was expected to have a 10-year life span. While the cities of Mishawaka and South Bend have done concrete overlays, this was the first such project on a county road.