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Last updated on Wednesday, August 12, 2015
(DAVIESS CO.) - Daviess County has purchased a new asphalt plant, the second county in the state to own one.
Jasper also owns an asphalt plant.
The new plant, purchased through federal surplus equipment, will be in the shop yard on County Road 200 North in Loogootee.
County Highway Superintendent Phil Cornelius says the county paid $500 for the plant and another $11,000 to have nine semis haul it to Washington. The plant was originally purchased by the federal government for $1.4 million in the 1990s. It had been used at Fort Leonardwood, Missouri, as training equipment for the Army Corps of Engineers.
The county still has to get the asphalt plant operational, a big operation. Cornelius is reaching out to the company who to receive training on operating the equipment. The plant now heats the asphalt with a diesel burning and officials plant to get that converted to natural gas.
They also have to put the plant back together now that it has been transported to Daviess County. They hope to have the plant up and running by next year.
Officials estimate that the new plant will save the county about 20 percent on its paving costs. The plan is to turn that back into more materials and projects. Officials also hope to provide asphalt to the city of Washington and other communities.
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