Customer Spotlight: David Anderson, PE

After Lee County’s first CIR job was performed in a high profile road, Anderson says his interest was piqued– Anderson wanted to expand into more recycling and reclamation. He began researching and asking for the advice of others. By the time a large road use agreement came across his desk from a new wind farm in the area, Anderson was prepared to try something new. 

The wind farm road use agreement said that the wind farm would fund repairs for nearly 25 miles of Lee County’s surrounding roads, which had begun exhibiting base issues after the heavy truck traffic and crane use due to construction. Anderson said the problem was tricky: “We couldn’t raise the profile of the roads, so HMA was out of the question– and reconstruction would’ve been too invasive and too costly ($700,000/mile).” 

Anderson let a project to bid that consisted primarily of cement stabilized FDR, with sections of emulsified FDR. The project would use 3,163.5 tons of cement, 154,982 gallons of emulsion and would take just 15 days.  Even better, the FDR would only cost $1,230,589. The FDR project would save more than $16,000,000 compared to reconstruction. Anderson hired a consulting engineer for quality assurance and on-site monitoring. He says between his own research, the contractor’s expertise, and the onsite consulting engineer, he was confident through the whole process. 

The end result was nearly 25 miles of strong 8” of reclaimed roadway. Anderson made sure to explain to the commissioner that this base would last for many years if the surface course (1.5” of HMA) is maintained properly. 

During the wind farm project, another highway commissioner approached Anderson with a similar problem: Mt. Union road needed repairs. The commissioner was concerned about stability, and knew that the treatment fix couldn’t increase or raise the profile of the road. Again, budgets were a concern. Per Anderson’s recommendation, Lee County hired Rock Solid to perform 12,233 Sy’s of cement FDR, with 127 total tons of material– The whole project was completed in 1 day, costing the county only $93,063. 

“We’re their go-to for technical advice” Anderson says about the highway commissioners. “It’s our job to make the right recommendations. Recycling and reclamation have been a really solid choice for us.” 

Anderson says the results are undeniable, and he hopes to apply more CIR and FDR in the coming years. “After being on the roads, not that it’s required, but for my own curiosity, I’ll core these roads, get a sample and do some testing. I expect that base is strong beyond belief,” he says. “Stronger than it would have been otherwise. We’re confident it’ll be solid for a while.” 

We are featuring David Anderson, Lee County County Engineer for his quick-action in learning, understanding and implementing new recycling and reclamation disciplines for the county. He’s become the highway commissioners’ resource for spearheading projects and advice on recycling and reclamation, as well as an experienced go-to for many County Engineers in neighboring areas.

3 years ago… We collaborated with Cultivate Brands to create a calculator our operators could use to quickly and easily determine surface area. We depend on accuracy when measuring out loads of stabilizers like Portland Cement, Lime Kiln Dust, or Fly Ash.   Getting the application rate right is critical to quality control and helps us keep our cost down.  You can download the Rock Solid App (Utilities / Tools version) in the App Store or Google Play Store for your daily soil stabilization and soil modification layout calculator.

2 years ago… Again, with the help of Cultivate Brands, we developed another App to help our pneumatic tanker truck drivers document and report their load information daily. The App nearly eliminated all paperwork and maximized efficiency between payroll and dispatch. Since the first of this year, our truck drivers no longer fill out paper time cards. Their daily data is collected in real time, pushed to the cloud, and organized in our software for dispatch, accounts payable, and payroll.  The RS Command App is available for download, but use is limited to Rock Solid Employees by a login & password requirement.

No years ago… We combined the two Apps to improve our spreader operator’s daily experience. In the past, the spreader operator would have to wait until a load of stabilizer like Portland Cement or Lime Kiln Dust was delivered to begin layout. The new App allows the operator to collect the load information before the truck driver leaves the plant. In turn, the onsite operator can begin to layout their load well ahead of its arrival, by verifying the load quantity data and utilizing the calculator.  When the load is placed onsite the operator designates the load as “placed” on the app, and the data is pushed to the cloud, and our job reporting software for our project management team.  The project team can track the progress of any of Rock Solid’s soil stabilization, full depth reclamation, or soil modification projects in real time.

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