Golly! NC Officials Suddenly Realize Wondrous Fracking Boom May Pound Road System Into Dust

[hatrack]

The first permits for natural gas exploration in the state could be issued in the spring, and N.C. Department of Transportation officials are trying to assess how the state’s rural roads will be affected by thousands of truckloads of chemicals, water, sand and mechanical equipment associated with hydraulic fracturing or fracking.

Some roads “are going to experience a lifetime of truck traffic in just a few weeks,” said Brandon Jones, a NCDOT division maintenance engineer.

No one knows how big the natural gas boom will actually be in the Deep River shale basin, which stretches across several counties in the central part of the state. But Jones said NCDOT’s Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Committee was already focusing on potential impacts to the state’s secondary road system, composed of around 60,000 miles of small roads in primarily rural areas.

“The secondary system was really built for small agriculture,” said Jones, who is on the committee. “Most of these secondary roads were really built with minimal pavement structure because the purpose wasn’t to carry a lot of trucks or heavy weights.” Jones said that could result in potholes and deteriorated road conditions.

EDIT

http://www.journalnow.com/news/state_region/as-fracking-looms-nc-officials-worry-about-road-damage/article_7fd6c9f1-f024-51fd-b407-c23b72c4ad7a.html

[riversedge]

1. Rural communites in WI are Trying to deal with this issue also--but

our Gov Walker is pro-business and is letting the roads crumble.

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. FWIW: All my life, I’ve heard jokes about the roads in Pennsylvania

I have to say, the roads that the gas company trucks drive over are in better shape now than they’ve ever been in my memory.

[Nihil]

3. Ha-ha!

You broke it? You bought it!