JACKSON REJECTS PAVING IMPROVEMENT WORK

JACKSON -- City officials said Thursday a concrete slab that was poured last month in the eastbound lane of West Main Street does not meet engineering specifications.

However, the city has offered the paving contractor, SIS Corp. of Creal Springs, Ill., a way to correct the paving defect without any additional delay in completing the $225,000 West Main Street improvement by the start of Jackson Homecomers on Aug. 11.

City Administrator Carl Talley said there are numerous small "humps" in the new pavement between High Street and the Hubble Creek bridge. Talley said the humps are most noticeable toward the center of the driving lane. He said humps result in a ripple or "washboard" effect to anyone driving over the pavement.

After the defect was discovered, the Jackson Board of Aldermen met in executive session Monday night following the regular council meeting and again on Wednesday with the city engineer and city attorney to discuss the problem and possible solutions.

Talley said the contractor has until Monday to reply to the city's offer. Talley declined to give any other details of the city's offer until the contractor has either accepted or rejected it. "We'll know more and be able to say more about it at Monday's (council) study session," he said.

City officials said the problem was caused when a special type of self-propelled paving machine used to pave the street stopped numerous times while the concrete was being poured. Instead of paving pre-formed sections of pavement, the paver "floats" on top of the fresh concrete surface and is able to lay the pavement without stopping.

Talley said the plan was to pour the entire section of pavement in the eastbound lane in a single operation in one day. But the paver had to stop and wait for more concrete to be delivered. Talley said each time the paver stopped, it left a "hump" in the pavement when it dried.

The defect wasn't discovered until the pavement dried and was opened to traffic. "We found out about it the first time we drove over it," Talley said. Since then, other Jackson motorists have discovered the new pavement is not as smooth as it appears. The city has received complaints about the pavement.

A city councilman who asked not be named said he is not sure who is at fault - the contractor or the concrete company. "All I know is the street does not meet specifications, and something has to be done soon," he said, because the start of Homecomers is less than a month away.

Talley said if the defect in the new pavement is not corrected, the pavement will not align properly in the center with the pavement in the westbound lane. The old pavement in the westbound lane has been removed, but pouring of concrete in the westbound lane cannot begin until the paving defect in the eastbound lane has been corrected.