As the Washington County Secondary Roads Department shifts its focus to summer construction and other maintenance projects, County Engineer Jacob Thorius is pleased with how the winter season worked out.

Thorius believes this winter was generally average until February brought bitter cold temperatures and extra snow, “That month of February we spent about another $40,000 on overtime which is the equivalent of having someone else on staff for about three-fourths of the year, paying that all in one month. So we put a lot of extra time in and work out there to work on roads and do what we could. I thought we did a good job, considering everything that was going on.”

Thorius adds that the spring thaw was relatively quick and created minimal issues for the department. He says the department has now been responding to potholes created from the winter season, hauling rock and reshaping gravel roads, and preparing for some ditch improvement projects this spring. The department is also accepting applications for an equipment operator until April 9th, which you can find a link to the job description here.