Gravel Roads

The Gravel Road Management team is comprised of both full-time and seasonal employees. Our services provide for the maintenance of gravel roads which include grading, shaping, stabilizing, placing new gravel, washout repair, dust mitigation and snow removal throughout Weld County.

Roadway Dust Control

Dust control products are applied to aggregate (gravel) roadways to inhibit fugitive dust when the vehicle traffic count exceeds 200 vehicles per day.

The traffic count will be verified by three different counts over a period of time in which the traffic is considered to be permanent traffic from the area.

The dust control agents and soil stabilization products used by the County are environmentally-friendly, intermediate solutions to reducing dust on low-volume roads.

When a roadway segment meets the criteria for County mitigation, the County may, when practical and within budgetary constraints, select one of the following alternatives to mitigate dust:

Surface treatment using dust control agents with a frequency of no more than two applications per year at the County’s discretion
Six-inch stabilized aggregate base using dust control agents
Paving, Recycled Asphalt Pavement (RAP), or Chip Seal
Speed limit reduction
Periodic watering

Roadway Stabilization

During road stabilization different materials can be used depending on the road and the problem.

The process involves watering, reclaiming, and rolling of the road.

Depending on the circumstances sometimes areas are dug out, chemical is injected and the areas are filled in with gravel, road base or asphalt millings before the road is top dressed with gravel.

Frequently Asked Questions:

When the road is bladed and the holes and washboards are filled with the same material and do not have sufficient moisture, the holes will reappear quickly, especially under heavy traffic. During dry periods we strive to grade roads as often as possible and replenish the surface gravel with the best material the budget allows. When grading is not feasible, holes are filled with material and sufficient moisture to prevent them from returning quickly. Excessive cutting of the road surface is not a good idea because the thin, fragile driving surface found on most gravel roads can be quickly damaged.

Tanker trucks are used on gravel roads for dust suppression. If very temporary dust suppression is needed water may be used. For longer term dust suppression, various environmentally-friendly dust control agents are used.

Routine grading of a gravel road usually involves two passes. During this operation, it can be expected that a windrow will be placed close to the center of the road until the grader comes back to move it to the other side. Normally the road width will allow passing without the grader pulling over. If you encounter a grader in an area that does not allow passing please be patient, the operator is instructed to let you pass as soon as possible.

Gravel roads differ greatly throughout the county due to the volume and type of traffic along with many other factors. Because of these reasons, road grading schedules vary from weekly, monthly or longer as deemed appropriate.

This policy is controlled by the Weld County Code, Section 8-6-100 which may provide for dust suppression funded by the County, subject to budgetary constraints, on roads that have confirmed traffic counts of 200 vehicles per day or higher. It also allows for the application of dust suppression at the expense of citizens who elect to mitigate dust on the County road. Please check with the Weld County Public Works for more information or fill out the Online Comment and Concern Form.

The Board of County Commissioners approve the paving of all county roads. Since not The Board of County Commissioners approve the paving of all county roads. Since not all local and collector roads get paved, many factors are taken into consideration. These factors include road classification, traffic counts, percentage of truck traffic, safety, continuity and mobility. These scenarios are highly variable and typically site specific. As a result, it is difficult to implement a “one-size-fits-all” standard. Therefore, recommendations made by Public Works to the Board are determined on a case-by-case basis.