Dodd Road is the only east/west farm to market road in western Walla Walla County. Originally constructed as a gravel road, it provides this large farming area with access to SR 12. Continued development along the road created the need for asphalt paving, especially at the western end near SR 12 where region-induced high truck volumes are concentrated. This improvement generated even more development, including a major feedlot, a large meat packing plant, a cold storage facility, and a potato storage facility. Growth in basic farming operations has continued.

The impacts of heavy truck volumes to the road were fast and furious, causing cracking, rutting and raveling to appear more quickly than usual. This made Portland Cement Concrete Pavement a preferred and economically viable alternative to Asphalt Concrete Pavement for the RAP funded project. Traffic control was also major issue during construction. In addition to the truck traffic, the meat packing plant employs three shifts of several hundred workers. With no alternate routes, traffic had to be channeled through the work area 24 hours per day. When it was all done, however, Dodd Road had emerged from a width of 26 ft to a higher capacity of 40 feet, including 8 foot shoulders, with the added benefit of a much stronger, low maintenance pavement. Acme Concrete Paving of Spokane, WA performed the work at a cost of $2,139,959, with the RAP contributing $585,000 to the effort. The project was a challenging but crucial improvement that will serve the citizens of Walla Walla County and their economic vitality for a long time.

Job Description Courtesy of Washington State CRAB (Country Road Administration Board)