GILLETTE, Wyo. — The Gillette City Council unanimously approved a bid award for the 2025 Chip Seal Project to Hardrives Construction Inc. in the amount of $313,985.56. The project is funded by the Optional 1% Sales Tax Fund, city documents state.
Two contractors submitted bids for the project. Hardrives Construction Inc. of Billings, Montana, was the lowest bidder. The engineer’s estimate for the project was $459,495.09. S & S submitted a bid of $431,444.
The chip seal project is part of the city’s street maintenance program that’s meant to help protect the surfacing of the city’s streets and extend the life of the surfacing by five to seven years.
The project will involve chip sealing streets that have been identified by the PAVER software program as areas needing surfacing maintenance. The PAVER software provides each street with a Pavement Condition Index number, according to city documents. The higher the PCI for a street, the better condition it is in.
A map of the project area is attached below:
The chip seal process involves applying an asphalt mixture to the road, followed by a layer of crushed gravel. The gravel is then compacted and embedded into the asphalt by rubber-tired rollers. After the loose gravel is swept off the surface, a fog seal is sprayed over the rock to hold it in place and add another layer of weathering protection.
Chip sealing helps to keep water from penetrating the road structure on paved surfaces, fill and seal cracks and raveled surfaces of old pavement, provide an anti-glare surface during wet weather and provide a highly skid-resistant surface.
The cost of chip seals is 15%–20% of the cost of pavement overlays.
The project is anticipated to be completed in summer 2025.