The estimated cost of the American Bald Eagle Foundation’s new asphalt parking lot paved last month is about $250,000, according to Roger Schnabel, Southeast Roadbuilders president, who donated a portion of the project.
“We didn’t have the money to do it,” said Cheryl McRoberts, ABEF director of operations. “At some spots, the pavement is eight inches thick.”
Schnabel said the parking lot donation was a combined effort of Southeast Roadbuilders and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“The contribution by Southeast Roadbuilders is close to $100,000, but the total value of the project is closer to a quarter of a million,” he said.
The Corps of Engineers provided an asphalt-treated base and Southeast Roadbuilders added a protective cover.
Schnabel said the asphalt-treated base resulted from an earlier Corps of Engineers cleanup, and the ABEF parking lot was identified as an appropriate place to put it.
“The integrity of the new surface may be in question because the water table is so high; movement from frost heaving combined with possibly marginal subgrade material may shorten its life,” he said.
“We didn’t want to go that far, to excavate it out and put good material in. We are taking a risk that it will be OK with an asphalt-treated base instead. Even with high water tables and a good subgrade, movement causes accelerated breakdown of the surface. We see that on our existing paved roads, which is a challenge in this environment.”
Schnabel called the ABEF a “landmark in our community” that “deserves to be promoted.”