Bethel Road paving could begin this week
Joy Harris
Hartselle Enquirer
This year’s abnormally wet July has caused the construction on Bethel Road unexpected delays.
When the city council voted to go ahead with the project to widen the road before school started, they knew the weather would have to cooperate for Reed Contracting Ser-vices of Huntsville to meet its deadline.
The average precipitation in the Huntsville area is now at 9.22 inches for the month of July, over double the July average over the last 20 years of 4.04 inches. According to WeatherSpark, the largest percent of this precipitation occurred July 4 when over 6.5 inches of rain were reported over 17 hours of almost continuous rainfall.
Paul Moss, a worker for Reed Contracting Services, said the project is on schedule despite the rain and feels the project can be completed on time if the weather holds off.
“It’s been hard, but we got caught back up last week,” Moss said. “We are back on schedule now. Almost all the digging is done, so all we need is for Mother Nature to cooperate for us to be able to finish up and pave soon. It’s going to be close.”
The construction crew faced setbacks earlier in July, but they have been able to make up lost time in the past week. They worked Sat., July 27, to make sure the deadline was met.
“They’ve really had a good week this week, getting the project caught back up,” said Jeff Johnson, Hartselle’s Department of Development director. “The road needs to be milled before paving begins, but that shouldn’t be a problem. They can asphalt immediately behind the milling.
“Then the asphalt will have to completely cure before the permanent striping and reflectors can be added, which could take a while due to the complexity,” Johnson said. “Even if the asphalt has not completely cured before school starts, they can put temporary striping down and add the permanent striping later over a weekend or during school hours.”
Johnson feels certain the project will be completed before school starts Aug. 19, barring any more torrential weather. He said paving should be ready to begin by midweek with later in the week being the latest he saw paving beginning.
The asphalt sub-contractor inspected the progress Monday morning to suggest improvements and tell when the paving should begin.
