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Highlands Today

County Asphalt Plant Is Almost Ready

Jasmina MeyerHighlands Today

From Left: Jerry Herring, Shawn Spencer, and Corey Krein iron workers from Maintenance and Machinery Erectors Inc. connect the supports to a Gencor load out silo to be used in the new aspahlt plant at the Highlands County Landfill in Sebring.

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By JIM KONKOLY Highlands Today

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 10, 2008

SEBRING - Highlands County is about to begin making asphalt and history.

The first government owned and operated asphalt plant in Florida should start production next week at the Highlands County Landfill, fueled mainly by methane gas that is now burned off.

Based on what he calls cautious and conservative projections, Ken Wheeler, the county's director of solid waste, said the operation should result in a savings of about $300,000 over the next year to resurface roads.

That estimate is based on the county's tentative plans to use from 20,000 to 25,000 tons of asphalt on roadwork this year.

But, Wheeler said, that's just the start in stretching the county's limited dollars to keep up and improve the roadways.

In about six months, he said, the county will resume recycling glass bottles, which were cut out of the recycling program five years ago.

Glass bottles will be crushed and recycled to replace coarse sand in the county's asphalt mix, boosting the road resurfacing savings by about an additional $180,000 per year, Wheeler said.

A few months after recycled glass goes into the operation, Wheeler said, the county will begin recycling shingles, which are composed of about 40 percent asphalt, for asphalt production.

Based on current prices for asphalt cement, which fluctuate with the price of crude oil, recycling shingles would drop the county's production cost by about $7.80 per ton, resulting in an additional savings per year of about $150,000 or more, Wheeler said.

The entire operation is designed, he said, "to get more roads paved for the same amount of money."

Technicians from Gencore Industries, headquartered in Orlando, began installing the county's $2.7 million asphalt plant in June. Total cost for the project is $3.3 million. A grant of $1.65 million from the state's innovative recycling program is covering half the cost.

This week, Gencore crews have been testing the plant and making adjustments.

"We're hopeful that it will be next week," Wheeler said about starting asphalt production.

Wheeler said the projected savings are based on a cost of $103 per ton to produce the asphalt, without recycled materials yet, and have the county's Road and Bridge crews apply it in resurfacing.

"That price is approximately $12 to $15 per ton less than what the contractors just recently quoted," Wheeler said. He was referring to bids for resurfacing opened in September.

"We requested prices in the event that a (paving) job had to be done and there were problems for our production, so that we could still get the work done," Wheeler said.

"We're trying," he added, "to be realistic with our numbers to compare to realistic numbers from contractors, to have an apples-to-apples comparison."

Using recycled glass to produce asphalt could be a big boost to both the county's recycling program and cost-cutting efforts, Wheeler said.

"The biggest criticism I have heard from people in the county (about the recycling program) is the fact that we don't recycle glass anymore," Wheeler said. That's because there has been little, if any, market for the sale of recycled glass in recent years, he said.

"A lot of times when people recycle they throw the materials in a bin but don't know where they go," Wheeler said. "Well, when they recycle glass in Highlands County, they'll know the glass is going to pave the roads they drive on, and reduce the cost that they have to pay for that."

Wheeler said the use of recycled materials will be implemented carefully and methodically, to insure a quality product.

"We're going to phase this in slowly so that we don't stumble and make mistakes," he said.

"If we do this all at once," he added, "it's difficult to identify the source of a problem. If you take it one little step at a time, then if a problem arises at one of the steps, you back up immediately and analyze the problem and correct it."

Highlands County's recycling program can't possibly supply enough glass for the asphalt plant, but that isn't a problem, Wheeler said.

"We've had great interest from state officials, they are anxious that we recycle glass, and they have given me contact numbers and names to track down (recycled) glass to bring into the county," he said.

Instead of paying for recycled glass from outside this county, he said, Highlands County will be paid to take it from other counties.

"The economics is that we will be able to charge for taking in outside glass," Wheeler said. "And it appears we can offset the cost of processing it. So, our goal is to use glass, hopefully, at a zero net cost and replace materials that are costing us $44 a ton."

Preparations also are underway to recycle shingles, which the county has been storing, instead of burying, at the landfill.

"The shingles will need to be ground up and processed, and we're currently trying to finalize bid specifications to get local contractors who can do this work for us," Wheeler said.

"We did some test runs last year with a local contractor from Avon Park," he added. "From this point on, we're going to be getting bids."

The county may start selling asphalt to the three municipalities, Sebring, Avon Park and Lake Placid.

"That will be available to them once we get into production," Wheeler said. "I know that Lake Placid has talked with Commissioner (Don) Bates about getting materials, and Sebring and Avon Park expressed interested when we started the project.

"That option," he added, "is there for them to look at, and I'm sure they will evaluate it."

Jim Konkoly can be reached at 863-386-5855 or e-mail jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com

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