City to Consider Out of Town Companies for Road Paving

The City Commission will vote on Wednesday whether or not to award two contracts totaling over $1,000,000 to out of town contractors to pave roads with techniques that City staff says is not available from local contractors.

One contract to be awarded is to Cutler Paving, which is located in Kansas, in the amount of $792,000. Cutler Paving will use what is called a hot-in place technique to pave a number of roads. Cutler Paving was the only company to provide a bid.

According to staff, the cost for applying this technique is $10 per square yard versus approximately $14-$16 per square yard for a traditional milling overlay process in order to achieve an equivalent structural end result and life expectancy.  The vendor will supply all the services and materials to complete this work.

The new asphalt materials will be purchased by the contractor from a local asphalt supplier.  This hot-in-place process is not available from local contractors.  It is anticipated that this hot-in-place contract would treat approximately 10 lane miles per year and conservatively yield a savings of $193,000 per year over the traditional mill and lay method.

The other contract is in the amount of $275,000 and staff is recommending the Commission to authorize the City Manager to execute a three-year contract with Asphalt Paving Systems, Inc., Zephyrhills, Florida, for the Micro-Surfacing Services. The company is headquartered in New Jersey.

According to staff, the service to be provided by the vendor through this contract is the micro-surfacing on appropriate roads that will be selected during the three-year term of this contract.  This micro-surfacing process is a technique requiring the use of specialized equipment that applies a thin layer(s) of aggregate and emulsified asphalt as a surface coarse over the existing asphalt surface.

The micro-surfacing process adds little or no structural value to the roadway, but does provide roadway surface preservation which delays further deterioration and propagation of surface distresses such as cracking or weathering that if left unattended, would decrease the service life of the roadway.

At $1.90 per square yard for a single layer application, this surface treatment extends the service life by six to 12 years (or longer) depending upon existing construction and roadway use variables.  The vendor will supply all the services and materials to complete this work.  This micro-surfacing is not available from local contractors.

Michael H. Scheiner, Manager – Public Works Operations Division told Tallahassee Reports that there is not a requirement in the agreements for out of town contractors to hire local workers.

  APS, cutler, Michael scheiner, road paving