City of Swift Current starting microsurfacing pilot project to extend lifespan of local streets

The City of Swift Current is starting a three-year preventative maintenance pilot project to extend the lifespan of streets through the use of a microsurfacing asphalt treatment.

The contract for the initial year of this project was approved during a regular City council meeting, March 18.

“I recognize that this is a pilot project, but the presentation that we had at budget and prior to that actually was pretty interesting,” Councillor Ryan Plewis said. “I think it’s a neat project and if it does work out, I think it becomes a pretty good deal for the citizens of the city of Swift Current to extend our pavement and our street infrastructure. So I think it’s a pretty exciting project.”

City General Manager of Infrastructure Greg Parsons mentioned that the pilot project is a result of discussions during budget deliberations about the City’s roadway maintenance system, which includes a grading and replacement program. The pilot project will be used to maintain roadways that are graded to be in a fair or good condition as a way to avoid expensive treatment in the future.

“Microsurfacing is relatively new in Western Canada,” he said. “It is a mixture of oil, aggregate, Portland cement, and water. A thin overlay of the mixture is applied to seal up cracks and fill minor ruts. It is not a structural improvement. However, it will extend the lifespan of the roadway by preventing further weathering. The cost to install microsurfacing is approximately one-third the cost of a rehabilitation.”

The City received a single tender submission for the 2024 microsurfacing contract from West-can Seal Coating Inc. of Didsbury, Alberta. The cost was higher then expected and the City made an enquiry with the contractor.

“The smaller quantity of the City’s program resulted in unit rates being higher than expected,” Parsons explained. “West-can agreed to reduce the unit rates to achieve the scope of work outlined within the proposal in support of the pilot program. In addition, the City ensured street sweeping would be completed prior to work beginning to reduce their costs.”

The revised pricing is within the allocated budget amount for the pilot project. Council therefore awarded the 2024 microsurfacing program contract to West-can Seal Coating Inc. at a total cost of $265,919.55 (PST included, GST excluded).

The implementation of the pilot program required a review of funding allocations within the City budget. There is $450,000 in the 2024 preventative maintenance capital budget. The City will use $184,000 for thin overlays within the 2024 paving and concrete contract while the remaining amount will be used for the microsurfacing contract.

“We were allotted a certain amount of money and then we’ve taken a portion of that money to reallocate it to the microsurfacing project,” he said. “So we’re going to do less overlays and rehab to accommodate the microsurfacing, because we only have so much money to go around.”

The microsurfacing treatment and thin asphalt overlays will be applied to 2.3 kilometres of roadway. The annual paving and concrete rehabilitation program will also take place during the coming months.

The work carried out under this program will include paved street rehabilitation, sidewalk and curbing rehabilitation, sidewalk maintenance, downtown streetscape rehabilitation and gravel road maintenance. There will be asphalt rehabilitation on 900 metres of street surface in the city and 600 metres of sidewalk will be replaced.

Council approved the 2024 paving and concrete contract during the March 18 meeting. The City received a single tender submission from United Paving Ltd. of Swift Current. Their bid was higher than the budgeted amount and the City had to remove a sidewalk project to allow the work to proceed within the available amount. Asphalt and concrete unit prices were also adjusted. The cost of this contract is $1,457,089.79 ( five per cent contingency and PST included, GST excluded).

The 2024 pavement maintenance contract of $415,000 (PST included, GST excluded) was also awarded to United Paving Ltd., which submitted the only bid. The work done under this contract during the past five years carried out approximately 12,000 square metres of asphalt maintenance per year.

The repair work carried out through this contract helps to prevent further deterioration of roads and avoids costly rehabilitation or rebuilding of roadways.

“The City’s streets require regular surface work to address failures,” Parsons said. “The recurring freeze-thaw cycle in winter and spring damages the pavement, resulting in pavement deficiencies and localized failures. Maintenance locations are identified from resident concerns and condition assessments.”

Equipment purchases for City operations:

The City will be spending over $900,000 to replace equipment needed for different operational purposes. Council approved the purchase of a new snow blower at a cost of $193,953.50 and a new loader priced at $264,846. Six light duty trucks for different City departments will be replaced at a total cost of $468,150.28 (PST included, GST included in all instances).

Community Grant Program funding allocations approved:

A variety of community organizations and programs will benefit from the funding received by the City under the 202425 Saskatchewan Lotteries Community Grant Program. The funding allocation is based on the population of a community and Swift Current is eligible to receive $122,275 for programs operating between April 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025.

Council members approved the funding amounts to different organizations during the March 18 regular council meeting. The City received 71 applications, which is one less than the previous year. Two applications did not meet the criteria and 69 organizations will therefore receive funds. This grant program supports non-profit organizations to deliver sport, culture and recreation programming in communities.

Council approved amended cemetery bylaw:

A bylaw was approved during the March 18 council meeting to incorporate several amendments to the 2017 Cemetery Bylaw. The changes will allow double cremation lot options, it determines that a child lot shall only contain one child interment and it allows the postponement of interments due to inclement weather or poor ground conditions. Another amendment includes rates and fees as an attached schedule to the bylaw. This information was previously not part of the bylaw.