Shenango Township 2021

Chewton West Pittsburg Road

2021 brought the last phase of improvements on Chewton West Pittsburg Road in

Shenango Township.

Early in the summer, the road crew with the assistance of Becca Naber, District Technical Advisor completed installation and upgrade of several cross pipes. New pipes were installed in areas where drainage was entering the roadway.  Existing pipes were upgraded with improved alignment to allow for better stormwater passage and structural head and end walls were added to all of the new drainage features.   Adjustment of the pipe alignment provides the stormwater less of an opportunity to “destabilize” or erode the ditches. This practice helps minimize movement of sediment and road material to our area waterways.

Shenango Township’s addition of structural head and endwalls on the pipes provides stability to the road edge and added protection to the area around the pipe where the stormwater enters the drainage system.  One of the reasons that the program requires that head and endwalls are constructed is because whenever water changes direction within the landscape it causes turbulence that has the potential to erode the area around the entrance to a pipe.

Following the drainage and stabilization work in September, the municipal road crew in cooperation with Youngblood Paving paver placed over 2500 linear feet of the DGLVR’s specialized aggregate blend called Driving Surface Aggregate (DSA) on the road surface.

DSA is a blend of limestone with a well graded stone size that when properly compacted “locks” or binds together to create a stabilized stone driving surface. DSA is put down on the road surface by tailgating the material into a traditional paver. Using a paver allows the material to stay properly mixed and placed in a uniform lift with a consistent cross slope onto the prepared road surface.

The Lawrence Conservation District enjoyed completing another project with our private and municipal partners to continue to bring better road maintenance practices and protection to our area watersheds.