McPherson shire Kan., had a 50-ton-...

McPherson shire Kan., had a 50-ton-per-hour (TPH) asphalt plant in operation for local road maintenance and pothole patching, however in 1991, the plant, which had produc arctic mix materials for 20 years, was well past its prime.

by dint of 1993, civil engineer Rodger Young, director of public works for the shire managed to convince the shire commissioners that a new asphalt plant would pay for itself in its first year and save millions of dollars above the next several years.

"We had basically hurry the hell out of the plant at filled capacity between 65 TPH and 70 TPH all summer long" Young says. And, because of torrential rains in 1993 bringing 45 inches (versus the typical 33 inches), a great deal of road work was needinessed just to stabilize the 324 miles of paved roads subject to his jurisdiction.

What Young urgencyed in 1994 was a plant that