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02/21/2007: "Shannon Makes U-Turn On Road Failures: Rock Passed Tests, But Rock Is Wrong"

(PW Director Shannon and staff members wait to testify to County Council)

During a lecture to the (CC) County Council in January, entitled "Chip-Seal 101", Public Words Director Jon Shannon informed the County Council that, while there were a number of reasons for the rough and failing roads in SJC, the rock -the "chips"- was not the problem; and called concerns that the rock was the problem "a conspiracy theory". Shannon told the CC the main problem was the quality of the sealer used to hold the rock in place, not the rock..

On Tuesday Shannon returned to the Council chambers to present a new report on the on-going problem, and reported that while the rock they had used passed all tests, it was in fact the wrong shape of rock; was not uniform in size; and had been "applied too heavily". Shannon said that in the future they will be using new specifications, and that smaller rock for the chip sealing of the roads will be used. To solve the current road problem, Shannon said they will use the money in the budget for this years maintenance of roads to repair last years maintenance work. The estimated cost to get the roads back to where they should be, is estimated to be just under a half million dollars.

Shannon said PW will also need to spend over $800,000.00 to insure that the problem will not happen again, by purchasing new and additional equipment. But since it is too late to purchase equipment this year, PW will rent the equipment for $30K. One of the benefits of the proposed solution of rental is that the county crew will be able to be trained in proper use of equipment and methods.


The County Council received the long awaited testimony from Jon Shannon and members of his staff with little comment, and few questions. Some in the audience later said they thought the answers were less than fully informative, but the Council asked less questions than the members of the audience did.

A retired PW employee -and some members of the press- asked some pointed questions, and received some less than on-point answers. It was asked why PW did not realized they had the wrong rock? Chairman Bob Myhr came to the defense of PW's position -by responding to a question asked of Shannon- that PW knew there was a problem with the roads, and they were trying to address it. But additional questions were asked why, now that new specifications would insure that the correct rocks would once again be use, is there a need for new equipment?. The answer came back that there are a number of reasons the roads failed, equipment is just one aspect of the problem.

So why is the chip seal failing? In a memo to the Council, Shannon listed that the number one reason is the "equipment cannot be adequately adjusted" and "cannot sufficiently handle modern emulsions". Other reasons given are traffic is moving too fast; the chip seal was installed too late in the season; and the last reason is that both the rock, and how the rock was applied, was wrong.

According to the memo, of those counties who responded to questions on what size rock they use, only one used 5/8" rock -which is what the county last ordered and used- and 22 counties used ½" or smaller rock. The memo also stated that tests indicated a 3/8" rock would provide the best results, and on low traffic roads even a ¼" rock will be used. As for all of that 5/8" rock PW purchased and stockpiled, County Engineer John Van Lund (who was introduced by Shannon as the person ultimately responsible for roads in SJC) said the rock would be used as a base material for the new work, so it will not be a financial loss to the county.

In terms of the problem of how to apply the asphalt emulsion (the "seal" in chip seal), PW will hire a vendor who will not only supply the sealer, but also an operator and a quality control inspector, both of whom will "provide our road crew with training".

After the public had asked their questions, Myhr asked if the Council had any additional questions. They had none.