DE WITT, Iowa — Clinton County is getting help from the U.S. Department of Transportation for a new road-preserving program.
The county received $440,000 for the pavement preservation project. That's 80 percent of the total project cost.
The pilot project will happen on County Road F12, which is northeast of De Witt. The last time County Road F12 was renovated was in 2001, according to county engineers.
The new technique will help roads last longer, and create a holding strategy for minor cracks before they become a more serious problem, according to county engineers.
The grant allows the county to use the new strategy to cut down on how frequently the roads need to be replaced.
"It's been very promising, and its worked well in other areas," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. "But, each region is different. The temperature is different, the load factor is different, the volume of traffic is different, so we're very careful."
Clinton County will be required to report back to the U.S. Department of Transportation with results. Chao hopes to have preliminary results within a year of installation.
Clinton County was one of eight recipients of grants from the federal government for the pilot project. Other states included as grant recipients are Alabama, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina and Oklahoma. In total, the U.S. Transportation Department allocated approximately $6.4 million for the grants.