City Approves New Street Program, Bids Street Paving
At the Feb. 27 meeting, Pierre City Commissioners approved more plans for the upcoming street construction season, including a new street preservation process.
Slurry Seal
The City approved a contract to slurry seal 50 blocks of street during the 2024 construction season. The slurry seal is a new preservation tactic for Pierre; it’s an oil-based seal that improves traction control and prevents moisture from penetrating the street surface.
“It’s an alternative to our chip seal process,” said Maddie Jaeger, Staff Engineer. “It requires fewer steps than the chip seal, allowing us to be more efficient during the construction season.”
ASCO, a specialized contractor from the Sioux Falls area, was the low bidder and was awarded a $400,420 contract to complete the slurry seal work.
Paving Contract
The commission also approved a request to bid the city’s 2024 paving contract. If bids come back favorably, the city expects to repave about 37 blocks of street this year. The paving projects range from simply placing a new layer of asphalt on a street to removing old asphalt and replacing it with new asphalt to rebuilding streets and covering them with a fresh surface.
The bid deadline is March 21.
The City of Pierre employs a variety of tactics to preserve, maintain, and improve city streets. They include curb and gutter improvements to keep moisture from pooling on streets; slurry seal and chip seal processes to fortify streets and protect them from damage; paving projects to provide a fresh surface; and street rebuilds to complete underground utility work and build new street over it.
The city maintains more than 80 miles of streets.