DRAFT
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS STRATEGIES TO
MITIGATE THE IMPACTS OF OIL AND GAS ACTIVITIES ON
WYOMING COUNTY ROADS
PHASE I
Khaled Ksaibati, PhD., P.E.
Director, Wyoming T2/LTAP Center
1000 E. University Avenue, Dept. 3295
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: (307) 766-6230
FAX: (307) 766-6784
e-mail: khaled@uwyo.edu
Submitted To
Wyoming Department of Transportation
i
ABSTRACT
Many parts of the State of Wyoming, along with other oil and natural gas
producing regions, are experiencing a dramatic increase in exploratory and production
drilling. Recently, the oil and natural gas industry improved the process for drilling
horizontally and fracturing underground formations to let out more oil and gas. Such
advancement made it possible to extract oil and gas from the Niobrara Shale which is
located in the southeastern corner of the state of Wyoming. County roads that once
handled very low traffic volumes will be expected to carry hundreds of vehicles per day
with a high proportion of heavy trucks. The main objective of this study is to outline a
methodology which will help counties in developing strategies so that their roads can
effectively serve the needs of the driving public as well as the oil and gas industry. The
developed methodology should result in helping the counties in adjusting their
maintenance and rehabilitation strategies so that they can allocate their limited
resources effectively. In addition, the study will identify current conditions and needed
investments to keep local roads in serviceable conditions and document changes due to
unforeseen use. Such documentations are very useful for law makers allocating funds
to compensate counties for the impacts to their roads and ensure economic
development for the region. The methodology developed will not only identify needed
improvements on local roads, it will also help in ranking the various improvements within
each county. Such ranking will insure that funding is invested in a cost effective manner.
The ultimate goal is to provide an effective tool for allocating scarce resources to insure
that road conditions are acceptable for all potential local and industrial users.
Acknowledgement
The author would like to thank all staff members of the WYT2/LTAP for their help with
the various phases of the oil and gas study.
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 1
1.1
Background .............................................................................................. 1
1.2
Contributions to the State Economy ......................................................... 2
1.3
Study Justifications................................................................................... 3
1.4
Objectives ................................................................................................ 3
1.5
Study Organization ................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER 2 THE NORTH DAKOTA STUDY .................................................... 6
2.1
Objectives ................................................................................................ 6
2.2
Principles of North Dakota Study.............................................................. 6
2.3
Data Collection and Analysis .................................................................... 7
2.4
North Dakota Study Recommendations ................................................... 7
2.5
Considerations for the Wyoming Study .................................................... 8
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY .......................................................................... 9
3.1
Data Management .................................................................................... 9
3.2
Inventory ................................................................................................ 10
3.3
Additional Data ....................................................................................... 11
3.4
Oil Production Locations (Impact classification) ..................................... 13
3.5
Condition Data........................................................................................ 13
3.5.1 Gravel Road Ratings ........................................................................ 13
3.5.2 Asphalt Roads Assessments............................................................ 17
3.5.3 Cattle guards Assessments.............................................................. 19
3.6
Data Summary ....................................................................................... 19
3.7
Improvement Recommendations............................................................ 21
3.7.1 Paved and Unpaved Roads ............................................................. 21
3.7.2 Cattle guards .................................................................................... 23
3.8
Maintenance and Rehabilitation Data..................................................... 24
3.9
Industrial Permits.................................................................................... 26
3.10
Chapter Summary ............................................................................... 28
CHAPTER 4 DATA AVAILABILITY in study area ............................................. 29
4.1
Converse County Data ........................................................................... 29
4.2
Goshen County Data .............................................................................. 32
4.3
Laramie County Data ............................................................................. 35
4.4
Platte County Data ................................................................................. 38
iii
4.5
Data Summary ....................................................................................... 39
4.6
Chapter Summary .................................................................................. 42
CHAPTER 5 Conclusions and RECOMMENDATIONS.................................... 43
5.1
Summary ................................................................................................ 43
5.2
Conclusions ............................................................................................ 43
5.2.1 Data Collection and Analysis Strategies .......................................... 43
5.2.2 Assessment of Counties in Southeastern Wyoming ......................... 44
5.2.3 Follow up Studies ............................................................................. 45
5.3
Recommendations ................................................................................. 47
References ......................................................................................................... 48
TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1 Crooks Gap Road, Sweetwater County, Wyoming. ............................ 2
Figure 1.2 Counties to be included in this study. .................................................. 4
Figure 3.1 Input menu for the TAMS software. ................................................... 14
Figure 3.2 Drainage rating for gravel roads. ....................................................... 16
Figure 3.3 Dust rating for gravel roads. .............................................................. 17
Figure 3.4 Pathway data collection van for paved roads. ................................... 18
Figure 3.5 Pathway software for determining PCI, IRI, and rut depth. ................ 19
Figure 3.6 Cattle guards on unpaved roads ....................................................... 20
Figure 3.7 Data collection for unpaved roads in Phase II. .................................. 20
Figure 3.8 Data collection for paved roads in phase II. ....................................... 21
Figure 3.9 Data analysis on paved roads to rank improvements in phase II. ..... 22
Figure 3.10 Developing improvement recommendations [10]............................. 23
Figure 3.11 Cattle guard evaluations and recommendations for improvements. 24
Figure 3.12 Impact of oil and gas truck traffic on maintenance activities. ........... 25
Figure 3.13 Cost of asphalt maintenance in Laramie County. ............................ 26
Figure 3.14 Oversize/overweight (OS/OW) permits in Laramie County. ............. 27
Figure 4.1 Roads impacted by drilling activities in Converse County. ................ 31
Figure 4.2 Roads impacted by drilling activities in Goshen County. ................... 34
Figure 4.3 Roads impacted by drilling activities in Laramie County. ................... 37
Figure 4.4 Roads impacted by drilling activities in Platte County. ...................... 40
Figure 5.1 Annual Recommendations from Phase III. ........................................ 46
TABLE OF TABLES
Table 3.1 PASER gravel road overall rating standards. ..................................... 15
Table 4.1 Data availability in the study area. ...................................................... 41
iv
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Many parts of the State of Wyoming, along with other oil and natural gas
producing regions, are experiencing a dramatic increase in exploratory and production
drilling. Recently, the oil and natural gas industry improved the process for drilling
horizontally and fracturing underground formations to let out more oil and gas. Such
advancement made it possible to extract oil and gas from the Niobrara Shale which is
located in the southeastern corner of the state of Wyoming. County roads that once
handled very low traffic volumes will be expected to carry hundreds of vehicles per day
with a high proportion of heavy trucks. A typical example of such a county road is
shown in Figure 1.1. These county roads were not originally designed for heavy truck
traffic. Therefore, it is important that these roads are evaluated and probably upgraded
to keep them in serviceable conditions.
In a recent study conducted in North Dakota, traffic counters were deployed at
100 locations in 15 of the 17 oil and gas producing counties. At each of the selected
sites, a count of no less than 24 hours was taken and adjusted to represent the traffic
over a 24-hour period. These raw counts were adjusted for monthly variation in traffic to
estimate the average daily trips (ADT) for each segment. The average traffic on these
segments was 145 vehicles per day. Sixty-one of these vehicles are trucks. Twenty-six
of these trucks were multi-units—i.e., semitrailer or multi-trailer trucks. Perhaps the
closest benchmark for major county roads is the rural collector network of the state
highway system. The average daily traffic on state collectors is roughly 277 vehicles per
day, of which 17 are multi-unit trucks and 14 are single-unit trucks. In comparison, the
county roads in the North Dakota sample have lower ADT but higher percentages of
trucks—i.e., 34 single-unit and 27 multi-unit trucks per day. The paved roads in the 100
surveyed locations have 99 trucks per day, versus 31 trucks per day on state collectors
[1].
During the last oil boom of the 1970’s and early 1980’s, the Texas State
Department of Highways and Public Transportation sponsored a research study that
estimated that drilling a single well takes about 60 days, and that 1365 trucks larger
than standard pickups travel to the well site during preparation and drilling. It also
estimated that during production, lasting about three years, 150 large trucks per month
serve each well. This study addressed the issues of oil field traffic on low volume roads
where the additional drilling traffic had a substantial impact.
According to the Texas study, low-volume rural roads in oil-producing areas were
not initially constructed to endure the impact of intense oil field truck traffic. Thus, a
condition of persistent rehabilitation was not anticipated under normal operating
1
situations, and complete pavement restoration costs were not normally accounted for in
the planning of maintenance. Since typical traffic characteristics and usual vehicle
distributions are not applicable to roadways that carry oil field traffic, there is a need to
determine the definitive elements of oil field traffic demand [2].
Figure 1.1 Crooks Gap Road, Sweetwater County, Wyoming.
1.2 Contributions to the State Economy
The oil and gas industry has been doing business in the state of Wyoming for
over 100 years. This industry has significant contributions to the Wyoming economy.
According to the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, Wyoming ranked 7th in production
of crude oil and 2nd in natural gas production during 2010. During the same year, the
petroleum industry employed approximately 21,000 people with a payroll of over $1.1
billion. For fiscal year 2010, oil and gas production contributed $1.9 billion to state and
local governments in the form of taxes and royalties. It is essential that the state of
Wyoming continues to work closely with the petroleum industry to insure the adequacy
of the transportation infrastructure. Such cooperation will be beneficial to the Wyoming
economy, driving public as well as the oil and gas industry.
2
1.3 Study Justifications
With the recent escalation in oil and gas drilling activities in the southeastern
corner of the state, Converse, Goshen, Laramie, and Platte counties, shown in Figure
1.2, will experience higher levels of truck traffic on their local roads. Such traffic will
impact these roads and result in a significant increase in maintenance cost. A high
percentage of the paved roads in these counties were built over 40 years ago. In the
past, they served local traffic without the need for major upgrades. The significant
increase in truck traffic will result in accelerating the damage to these originally underdesigned roads which would result in significantly increasing maintenance costs. The
unpaved roads in these counties will be impacted as well. Some of these roads may not
have the adequate structural capacity for heavy truck traffic while other unpaved roads
may not be wide enough to safely carry local and truck traffic. The increased traffic on
unpaved roads will result in a significantly higher level of required maintenance and in
some cases an increased need for dust control. Proper maintenance and upgrades for
both paved and unpaved roads would insure meeting the expectations of both the
driving public and the oil and gas industry.
The Wyoming Legislatures allocated six hundred ten thousand dollars
($610,000.00) for the purpose of evaluating impacts and formulating mitigation
strategies associated with mineral exploration and production in southeastern Wyoming.
The governor allocated a portion of these funds to the State Engineer’s Office to ensure
water right and usage compliance issues are adequately addressed, and the rest of the
fund (approximately $200,000) to the Department of Transportation for evaluation of
road impacts. A small portion of the DOT allocated fund was used in this first phase so
that a standard methodology for mitigating the impact of oil and gas drilling activities can
be developed. It is anticipated that the implementation of the proposed methodology will
help in providing impacted counties with additional resources so that they can maintain
and upgrade their infrastructure. Keeping local roads in acceptable conditions is
essential not only for county residents but also to the oil and gas companies which need
to get their equipment efficiently to drilling sites and transport their products to markets.
It is going to be difficult for both companies and impacted counties to keep up with the
rapidly expanding drilling activities using county roads without the support of the
Wyoming legislature.
1.4 Objectives
The main objective of this study is to outline a methodology which will help
counties in developing strategies so that their roads can effectively serve the needs of
the driving public as well as the oil and gas industry. The developed methodology
should result in helping the counties in adjusting their maintenance and rehabilitation
strategies so that they can allocate their limited resources effectively. In addition, the
study will identify current conditions and needed investments to keep local roads in
serviceable conditions. Such documentation is very useful for law makers allocating
funds to compensate counties for the impacts to their roads. The methodology
developed will not only identify needed improvements on local roads, it will also help in
3
ranking the various improvements within each county. Such ranking will insure that
funding is invested in a cost effective manner. The ultimate goal is to provide an
effective tool for allocating scarce resources to insure that road conditions are
acceptable for all potential local and industrial users.
Local bridges are normally evaluated by WYDOT. Therefore, they will not be
included in this study. A separate effort should consider the needs for upgrading
bridges. In addition, this study will not consider the impact of truck traffic on the safety of
local roads.
Figure 1.2 Counties to be included in this study.
1.5 Study Organization
This study, Phase I, concentrated only on developing a methodology for
evaluating the impact of gas and oil drilling activities on local roads. Such methodology
is based on the guidelines recommended by the WYT2/LTAP to manage local roads [3
through 12]. The implementation of the proposed methodology will require two
additional phases. Phase II will result in implementing the developed methodology in
four counties. Converse, Goshen, Platte and Laramie counties were chosen for this
4
initial implementation. The implementation will concentrate on roads with predominantly
drilling traffic as identified by the participating counties. Roads with inadequate surface
conditions for their functional class will be recommended for improvements. Phase II will
address the immediate needs of the counties to address the impact in year 1. These
recommendations can be used by law makers to allocate additional resources to
improve heavily impacted local roads.
The third phase of the study will concentrate on identifying future needs in the
four counties. Continuous measurements of road conditions and level of maintenance
effort are essential in determining future needs. Some of the counties included in this
study may not have experienced the full impact of drilling activities yet. Therefore,
Phase II may not show the full impact on their infrastructure. The proposed activities for
Phase III will insure the continuous monitoring of local roads so that resources are
allocated not only where they are needed but also when they are needed. The Wyoming
state legislature should be presented with information on the third phase so that they
can allocate appropriate resources for it.
5
CHAPTER 2
THE NORTH DAKOTA STUDY
North Dakota has been experiencing oil and gas impact similar to Wyoming. The
North Dakota legislature funded a study to evaluate the oil and gas impact in 2010 [1].
3,300 wells were producing oil in North Dakota prior to 2005. As of November 2010, that
number had risen to 5,200. In addition, the number of producing wells is expected to
increase substantially in the future. Important lessons can be learned from the North
Dakota study. This chapter summarizes the principles of that study, the main findings,
and how some of these findings can help the Wyoming effort in evaluating the impact of
oil and gas drilling activities. All information summarized in this chapter was obtained
from the North Dakota study [1].
2.1 Objectives
The purpose of the North Dakota study was to forecast road investment needs in
oil and gas producing counties of North Dakota over the next 20 years in light of the
expected growth. The essential objective was to quantify the additional investments
necessary for efficient year-round transportation of oil while providing travelers with
acceptable roadway service. The focus was on roads owned or maintained by local
governments.
2.2 Principles of North Dakota Study
The study was performed with the following principles in mind:






Impacts and funding needs are analyzed for three types of roads: paved,
graveled, and graded and drained.
The analysis is based on three main data sources:
o oil production forecasts
o traffic data on selected roads
o county road surveys to identify road conditions
The forecasted output of wells is routed over the road network to pipelines using
a detailed Geographic Information System model in which oil movements are
represented as equivalent tractor-semitrailer trips that follow least-cost paths.
The county surveys provided information about the condition of each impacted
segment.
Typical thicknesses of surface and base layers were used.
The future locations of drilling rigs were estimated from lease data obtained from
the North Dakota Land Department. Estimates from the Oil and Gas Division
suggest that a total of 21,250 wells will be drilled in the next 10 to 20 years. If
1,500 wells are drilled each year, it would take 14 years to drill the estimated
21,250 wells.
6
2.3 Data Collection and Analysis
The following steps were followed in the North Dakota study:






Production Forecast (the Oil and Gas Division)
Trips Forecasts. Oil traffic consists largely of five types of movements:
o inbound movements of sand, water, cement, scoria/gravel, drilling mud,
and fuel;
o inbound movements of chemicals
o outbound movements of oil and byproducts
o outbound movements of saltwater
o movements of specialized vehicles such as workover rigs, fracturing rigs,
cranes, and utility vehicles (i.e., rig-related movements).
Traffic Analysis. Traffic counters were deployed at 100 locations in 15 of the 17
oil and gas producing counties.
Structure of Paved County Roads. The capability of a road to accommodate
additional truck traffic is measured through its structural number (SN), which is a
function of the thickness of the surface and base layers and the materials of
these layers. County roads are light-duty structures designed for farm-to-market
and manufactured goods movements. They are often built with six-inch
aggregate bases topped with asphalt. The total thickness of the asphalt layers
ranges from 2.5 to 6 inches. The average structural numbers in oil and gas
producing counties are 1.6 and 1.1 for collectors and local county roads,
respectively. In comparison, the average structural number of state collectors in
oil-producing counties is 2.8.
Roadway Width. According to surveys, the graded widths of approximately half of
the county roads in oil and gas producing areas are less than or equal to 28 feet
in width.
Paved Road Service Lives. The pavement design equations of the American
Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) are used in
this study. Using design equations and ESAL factors, the service life of each
impacted road is projected with and without oil traffic. The average reduction in
life is five years. A structural overlay is a cost effective solution for pavements
with substantial but lower increases in traffic. In addition to improving structural
durability, reconstruction enables minor widening and shoulder improvements.
2.4 North Dakota Study Recommendations
The North Dakota study resulted in the following recommendations for
improvements:


Reconstruction of Paved Roads: Approximately 256 miles of county road are
selected for possible reconstruction.
Structural Overlays. An additional 249 miles of paved road are candidates for
structural overlays.
7



Estimated Paved Road Funding Needs: The estimated paved road investment
needs amount to $340 million over the next 20 years. Most (75 percent) of these
needs are attributable to reconstruction, while 12 percent corresponds to both
overlays and annual maintenance.
Estimated Unpaved Road Funding Needs: Approximately 12,718 miles of
impacted unpaved roads have been identified. The projected cost of oil-related
traffic on these roads is $567 million over the next 20 years.
Overall Needs: When the unpaved and paved road costs are added together, the
projected investment need for all roads amounts to $907 million, which is equal
to an average annual need of $45.35 million over the 2011-2030 period.
2.5 Considerations for the Wyoming Study
The North Dakota study clearly demonstrated that the impact of oil and gas
drilling activities on local roads is very significant. If a similar planning study were to be
performed in Wyoming, it is certain that the forecasted needs would of a similar
magnitude to the needs in North Dakota.
Instead of conducting a study duplicating the North Dakota approach, it makes
more sense to concentrate the efforts in Wyoming on helping impacted counties in
developing their own Pavement Management Systems (PMS). Such systems would
enable Wyoming counties to collect condition data on their roadways so that they can
measure actual and not projected impact of drilling activities. Maintenance and
rehabilitation strategies based on actual rather than projected conditions can be
recommended, implemented, and then evaluated over time. Wyoming DOT as well as
other DOTs in the region follow a similar approach with their Pavement Management
Systems. Continuous monitoring of the conditions of roads is a good management tool
which will help impacted Wyoming counties for years to come. It is important to mention
here that such systems require annual updates and continuous data analysis to get the
intended benefits.
8
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
Several approaches can be adopted to identify the impacts of heavy truck traffic
associated with energy developments on local roads. The North Dakota approach
utilizes planning tools to forecast future truck traffic based on certain assumptions
associated with potential future drilling activities. Such an approach is effective in
developing long-range plans and general future funding needs. As an alternative,
pavement management tools and techniques can be effectively utilized so that actual
conditions of paved and unpaved roads are documented. Maintenance and
rehabilitation strategies can be then developed based on these actual conditions. This
management technique provides local agencies with continuous measures of where
their networks are.
In this study, it is recommended that local agencies in the state of Wyoming
concentrate their efforts on measuring actual impact of drilling activities by implementing
the pavement management system approach rather than only planning tools.
Implementing pavement management systems in impacted counties will enable them to
document the conditions of their networks, identify their needs, and evaluate the
effectiveness of their maintenance and rehabilitation programs in the future. In other
words, the management system approach will help counties in making more cost
effective decisions for years to come. It is important that realistic guidelines are
established for such management systems so that counties can collect the data needed
and conduct the required analysis.
Managing paved roads based on the data gathered in Pavement Management
Systems has been the accepted practice for highway agencies around the country.
However, managing unpaved roads has been a more challenging process for local
governments. Since the majority of roads managed by local governments around the
state are unpaved, the WYT2/LTAP developed a methodology for gravel roads
management [3]. In this chapter, recommendations will be made to collect the
appropriate data on paved and unpaved roads based on the extensive experience of
the WYT2/LTAP staff.
3.1 Data Management
There are various ways to manage data on paved and unpaved roads. An initial
decision had to be made on whether to purchase a commercial software package,
obtain a free package, or develop software internally. Based on the extensive
experience of the WY2/LTAP staff, an assessment was conducted on the various
options and a decision was made to use the TAMS program as a data collection tool.
TAMS was developed by the Utah LTAP and has been implemented successfully by
many local communities in Utah. The TAMS software has the capability to recommend
certain improvements based on distress extent and severity. Some agencies reported
that the program may result in overestimating the needs. Therefore, it is recommended
that in this study the collected data is analyzed by the staff of the WYT2/LTAP center
which would allow the flexibility to modify maintenance and rehabilitation techniques to
reflect the practices of Wyoming Counties. The rest of this chapter describes the data
9
collection and analysis strategies to set up asset management systems for counties in
Wyoming. In this study, data will be collected on paved roads, unpaved roads, and
cattle guards. Other assets can be added in the future as needed.
3.2 Inventory
An inventory is simply a list of assets and a few fundamental, static attributes of
the assets, roads and cattle guards. At the very least, the following aspects of a road
network should be collected and stored:
 Unique Section Identification: Road Name and/or Number
o Each section of road should be uniquely identified. Some provision should
be made within a database scheme to split existing roads into smaller and
more uniform sections.
o In addition to the unique road section identifier described above, the name
and number of the road should also be included in the inventory. It should
be noted that one road may be split into several sections, each with its
own unique section ID. With road names and numbers also in the
inventory, searches on information about an entire road may be made
even if the road is split into several maintenance management sections.
 Location:
o The location of each section should be described. In this study, the
location should be identified with data from a global positioning system
(GPS).
 Surface Type:
The following two main types with two subcategories in each type should be
included in this study:
o Unpaved:
 Gravel
 Earth
o Paved:
 Asphalt Pavement:
 Sealed Roads: (Double Chipped).
 Length
o The section’s length should be recorded as accurately as possible. This
should be based on where an agency’s roads truly begin and end.
o WYDOT provided the length of all paved county roads.
o The length of unpaved roads should be provided by the counties. These
lengths will be confirmed during the data collection.
10
 Top Width
o This information is especially important for unpaved roads. The top width
should be measured on a typical usable width of the traveled way on
tangents, between the hinges of the shoulder. Such information is useful
in the following two ways:
 Narrow roads (less than 24’) will have more concentrated traffic in
the middle of the road. Such traffic will accelerate the damage of
these roads. Increasing the width of these roads to at least 24’ will
insure that traffic will be going in two opposite lanes and the damage
will not be increased in the middle of the roads.
 Studies have shown that narrower roads with narrow shoulders are
not as safe as wider roads. The drilling truck traffic on narrow roads
will probably increase the frequency and severity of crashes.
o The widths of paved roads are also important. They would be used to
estimate required maintenance and rehabilitation costs.
 Inventory Date:
o When the inventory data was compiled
 Functional Class:
o Functional classifications are important in setting up acceptable surface
conditions and improvements strategies.
o The functional classification of each local road should be established. The
following functional classifications for county roads were obtained from
WYDOT:
 Rural major collector
 Rural minor collector
 Urban collector
 Urban Minor Arterial
 Local
3.3 Additional Data
In order to fully assess the conditions of local roads impacted by energy
development, it is important that the following additional data is collected:
 Traffic Volumes:
In this study, traffic data will be collected with the Diamond traffic counters. The
counts will be obtained on both paved and unpaved roads. These counts should
be performed over a minimum of 48 hours. Longer periods of time may be
allowed on some of the heavily impacted roads. The counts will be used to
establish baselines and the potential increase in truck traffic due to the drilling
activities. Vehicle counts as well as vehicle classifications should be obtained.
 ADT – Average Daily Traffic
11



Cumulative traffic in vehicles per day, both directions
Should be corrected for seasonal variations based off of
WYDOT correction factors.
ADTT – Average Daily Truck Traffic
 Traffic Speeds:
o Speeds might be of interest, the 85th and the 50th percentiles speed
should be obtained when available.
o Higher speed may result in more dust and higher levels of deteriorations
on unpaved roads.
 Photographs:
o Photographs should be obtained when documenting the conditions of
unpaved roads. It would be adequate to get two pictures, one at each end
of every segment.
o There is no need to get photographs on paved roads since they will be
surveyed with the Pathway equipment which will provide video logs of all
paved sections.
o Pictures should be obtained on cattle guards. Such pictures should show
the overall conditions of the approaches and the cattle guards.
 Pavement Thickness:
o The thicknesses of the layers for the paved sections are required for the
structural evaluation. Information on layers types and quality should be
collected while obtaining thicknesses. Such thicknesses can be obtained
based on two methods:
 The preferred method: Coring should be performed and actual
thicknesses should be measured. As a minimum, the thicknesses
of the surface and base layers should be obtained.
 The less preferred method: Thicknesses will be obtained from the
counties records. These records might be based on construction
documents or any other county records.
 Other Roadway Features:
o Cattle guards:
 The locations of cattle guards should be determined with a GPS.
 Condition ratings should be obtained for the cattle guards. As a
minimum, one of the ratings should be for the condition of the
approaches and the second one for the overall condition of the
cattle guards.
12
3.4 Oil Production Locations (Impact classification)
Information on water and oil well permits should be obtained from the Wyoming
Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Such information will be important in identifying
local roads which are impacted by drilling activities. County Road & Bridge personnel
will utilize wells and water permits in identifying and ranking their impacted roads. This
process can be applied to other economic drivers such as wind mills and transition lines
3.5 Condition Data
For any asset management system, it is important that the conditions of the
roadways and other features are obtained. In this study, the conditions of the following
infrastructure will be included:
 all paved roads
 all impacted unpaved roads
 selected un-impacted roads
 cattle guards on impacted roads
The conditions should be measured and rated using methods developed by
in consultation with county personnel. Since WYDOT evaluates bridges
longer than 20’, they should not be included in this study. It is recommended that
bridges shorter than 20’ be included in future studies since they are maintained by local
governments.
WYT2/LTAP
3.5.1 Gravel Road Ratings
The most important ratings that should be collected on gravel roads are:
 surface distress
 drainage
 dust
All gravel roads ratings should be collected with the Transportation Asset
Management System (TAMS) or similar data collection systems. Figure 3.1 shows the
input menu for the TAMS software. The TAMS Road Module was developed at Utah
State University by the Utah Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Center. The
goal of the TAMS program is to serve as a tool for cities and counties to effectively
manage their Transportation systems. In this study, it is recommended that TAMS is
used a data collection tool only. The data analysis should be performed based on a
methodology developed by the WYT2/LTAP which can be tailored to better fit the
maintenance and rehabilitation strategies in the state of Wyoming.
13
Figure 3.1 Input menu for the TAMS software.
3.5.1.1 Surface Distress Ratings
The conditions of the unpaved sections should be obtained manually due to lack
of automated equipment for unpaved roads. It is recommended that the PASER
technique should be utilized in getting the condition of each section. Since this will take
time and effort, it is highly recommended that roadways which are expected to be highly
impacted by drilling activities be evaluated first. The conditions of un-impacted roads
can be collected as needed.
Data collectors should observe the following surface distresses while slowly
driving each road segment: rutting, washboards, potholes, loose aggregate and overall
condition. At the end of each segment, the distresses should be rated and documented.
14
Gravel road ratings should be based on the Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating
(PASER) system developed by the Wisconsin Transportation Information Center. This
system rates roads from Excellent to Failed. These ratings are primarily driven by
necessary maintenance activities. Table 3.1shows a brief summary of the rating
standards used with the PASER road rating system for gravel roads.
Table 3.1 PASER gravel road overall rating standards.
Rating
General Condition
New construction or total
10 - Excellent
reconstruction
8 - Good
Recently regraded;
Adequate gravel for traffic
Drainage
Excellent drainage
Maintenance
Little or no maintenance
needed
Good crown and drainage Routine maintenance may
throughout
be needed
6 - Fair
Shows traffic
Needs some ditch
improvement and culvert
maintenance
4 - Poor
Travel at slow speeds
(less than 25 mph) is
required
Major ditch construction
and culvert maintenance
also required
2 - Failed
Travel is difficult and road
may be closed at times
Regrading (reworking)
necessary to maintain;
Some areas may need
additional gravel
Needs additional new
aggregate
Needs complete rebuilding and/or new culverts
3.5.1.2 Surface Drainage Rating
Surface drainage of gravel roads is a very important parameter. Drilling
companies can’t afford having their activities shut down due to the presence of water on
unpaved roads or after rain storms. Therefore, roads used by oil and gas companies
should have adequate drainage. It is recommended that the TAMS rating for surface
drainage be followed in this study. This rating consists of three levels good, fair, and
poor as shown in Figure 3.2. An experienced person should determine the drainage
rating of each section included in the study.
15
Figure 3.2 Drainage rating for gravel roads.
3.5.1.3 Dust Rating
Due to the expected heavy traffic on drilling roads, it is important that dust is
rated and documented. Such rating should be performed when unpaved roads are
relatively dry. Ratings under moist conditions are unacceptable. Figure 3.3 shows the
three levels of dust ranking in the TAMS software: light, medium, and heavy. The heavy
and often higher speed of traffic on drilling roads breaks up the road surface’s crust
allowing more dust to be dispersed into the air. Dust suppressant on drilling roads may
be needed. The proposed ranking of dust will help in identifying roads where dust
treatments maybe required.
16
Figure 3.3 Dust rating for gravel roads.
3.5.2 Asphalt Roads Assessments
There are different techniques to evaluate the conditions of asphalt pavements.
The rating system described in the TAMS software will not be utilized in this study.
Instead, the procedure followed by the Wyoming DOT is recommended for use. This
procedure consists of collecting video logs of all pavement sections with the Pathway
equipment shown in Figure 3.4. While collecting the video logs, rut depths and
roughness measurements are also taken on all asphalt sections.
After collecting the data, the WYDOT procedure for identifying various pavement
surface distresses should be conducted. This technique determines the types, severity,
17
and extent of each pavement distress. The Pathway program, shown in Figure 3.5, will
then calculate the overall Pavement Condition Index (PCI) based on the distress deduct
values. It is important that the deduct value for each distress type is identified separately
so that the appropriate recommendations can be made for maintenance and
rehabilitations.
3.5.2.1 Roughness and Rut Depth
In addition to calculating PCI, roughness measurements and rut depths will be
obtained on all paved sections in the counties participating in this study in accordance
with WYDOT standards. Roughness should be measured with the International
Roughness Index (IRI) while the average rut depth should be measured in inches.
These measurements will help in evaluating the impact of heavy truck traffic. In addition,
they will be used when making recommendations for maintenance and rehabilitation.
3.5.2.2 Consistency
It is important that the WYDOT procedure for evaluating asphalt pavements on
the state highway system is followed so that the conditions of local roads can be
compared to other paved roads in the state of Wyoming. This would facilitate the
implementation of some of WYDOT’s condition driven rehabilitation strategies on local
paved roads in the future. The data collection and analysis process described above
should be applied to all asphalt segments paved with hot mix asphalt and those with
inverted penetration, chip seal, or other bituminous surface treatments. Paved and
sealed surfaces should be identified with a field evaluation performed with an
experienced individual.
Figure 3.4 Pathway data collection van for paved roads.
18
Figure 3.5 Pathway software for determining PCI, IRI, and rut depth.
3.5.3 Cattle guards Assessments
Cattle guards, as shown in Figure 3.6, can be impacted by heavy truck traffic.
Evaluating the full impact of heavy trucks requires monitoring the conditions of cattle
guards. It is recommended that a simple rating system similar to the system developed
by the WYT2/LTAP is implemented to rate the overall conditions of cattle guards. As a
minimum, the rating system should include an overall rate for the cattle guard and a
separate rate for the approaches. These ratings can be used to develop maintenance
and replacement strategies for cattle guards.
3.6 Data Summary
After all data has been collected, it is important that the data is summarized in a
comprehensive data base which can be used later for analysis. Figure 3.7 shows the
summary of all collected data for unpaved roads while Figure 3.8 shows the collected
data for paved roads.
19
Figure 3.6 Cattle guards on unpaved roads
Figure 3.7 Data collection for unpaved roads in Phase II.
20
Figure 3.8 Data collection for paved roads in phase II.
3.7 Improvement Recommendations
3.7.1 Paved and Unpaved Roads
The overall procedure for establishing the recommended improvements is similar
for paved and unpaved roads. This procedure is described in details in a study
performed by the WYT2/LTAP [10]. According to that procedure, current conditions such
as surface distresses and roughness measurements should be obtained. The
recommendations for improvements will be based on the specific pavement surface
distresses present on every road segment. Figure 3.9 shows how the collected
pavement and condition data will drive the recommendations for maintenance and
rehabilitations.
21
Figure 3.9 Data analysis on paved roads to rank improvements in phase II.
For each road segment, potential improvements are recommended based on the
current conditions. A user condition index should be calculated, and those segments
that are below the threshold value for their functional class are selected as candidates
for improvement. The appropriate improvement is selected based on the individual
distress conditions. The benefit of these improvements is assessed by estimating the
reduction in user costs resulting from performing the improvement. Those
improvements that cost less than the reduction in user costs are selected. The summary
for this strategy is shown in Figure 3.10. The Surfacing Serviceability Index (SSI)
reflects an overall road rating which is calculated for every road segment based on the
various distresses on paved and unpaved roads.
County Road and Bridge personnel will be consulted when developing these
specific improvement recommendations. The threshold values for each functional
classification can be adjusted to reflect the standard maintenance and rehabilitation
strategies followed in each county.
22
Figure 3.10 Developing improvement recommendations [10].
3.7.2 Cattle guards
A Simpler procedure can be implemented to recommend improvements for cattle
guards. Figure 3.11shows graphically how the conditions of cattle guards will drive the
recommendations for improvements. Average costs for cattle guards improvements will
be obtained from the counties participating in this study. These costs will be used in
conjunctions with current conditions and potential remaining service life to recommend
improvements. The impact of drilling activities on cattle guards will vary from one county
to another since It has been observed while doing the field evaluations in the counties
participating in this study that some counties have more cattle guards than others.
23
Figure 3.11 Cattle guard evaluations and recommendations for improvements.
3.8 Maintenance and Rehabilitation Data
In order to measure the actual impact of drilling activities, it is important that
counties keep track of their maintenance and rehabilitation activities. A program such as
PubWorks would offer an important management tool to keep track of the types and
dates of applied maintenance activities.
PubWorks is comprehensive GIS-integrated Asset Management software for
Public Works agencies. Work Orders, Service Requests, Fleet Maintenance and Job
Costing are seamlessly integrated to form a Public Works data base. The PubWorks
information that would be relevant to this study is:
 road name or number
 time of maintenance application
 type of activities
 who did the activities (contracted vs county forces)
 Cost (overhead, labor, materials, and equipment)
PubWorks has good database capabilities which can provide a list of the
maintenance and rehabilitation activities. There is a need to extract more useful
information from PubWorks to fulfill the needs of this study. The WYT2/LTAP is currently
in the process of identifying certain applications for the data which would be useful for
24
estimating the impact of drilling activities. Figure 3.12 Shows in general how the
maintenance data will help in quantifying the impact of oil and gas drilling activities.
It is recommended that counties begin collecting information on their
maintenance and rehabilitation activities using PubWorks or any other available
software. The following recommendations should help in insuring that counties are
collecting the appropriate information:
 The WYT2/LTAP center should work with the counties so that they
establish uniform codes for various Maintenance activities. The activities
should be better defined so that a meaningful analysis can be performed.
 Maintenance activities should be reported for each maintenance section
and not based on the overall length of a roadway which might be too long.
Figure 3.12 Impact of oil and gas truck traffic on maintenance activities.
25
$ PER MONTH
Collecting maintenance data on roadway sections will enable counties to do an
analysis which shows their expenditures on the various maintenance activities. Figure
3.13 was supplied by Laramie County and shows how the county is allocating
significantly more funding for the maintenance of paved road in recent years. It is
possible that this is due to the increase in truck traffic in the county.
$220,000.00
$210,000.00
$200,000.00
$190,000.00
$180,000.00
$170,000.00
$160,000.00
$150,000.00
$140,000.00
$130,000.00
$120,000.00
$110,000.00
$100,000.00
$90,000.00
$80,000.00
$70,000.00
$60,000.00
$50,000.00
$40,000.00
$30,000.00
$20,000.00
$10,000.00
$0.00
Asphalt 2008
Total $22,474.86
Asphalt 2009
Total
$202,191.76
Asphalt 2010
Total
$396,374.27
Asphalt 2011
Total
$603,066.53
Current with 4
months
remaining
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Figure 3.13 Cost of asphalt maintenance in Laramie County.
3.9 Industrial Permits
A quick review of the permitting process in various Wyoming counties would
indicate that the following permits are the most mandated:
 Industrial
 Over size/ over weight
 Approach
 Road users agreements
These permits can help counties in regulating and keeping track of heavy truck
traffic applied to their roads. Some counties have already implemented a combination of
permits while others do not have any permitting process due to lack of resources and
the inability to enforce such permits. Oil and gas companies operating in various
counties are burdened with the needs to figure out the local requirements which will
vary from county to county. It is beneficial to all parties involved that a standard
26
permitting process is developed and then implemented statewide. Such a process will
make it easier for oil and gas companies to operate across county lines. It will also
make it possible for local governments to implement such a process. The following
steps should be followed when developing the uniform statewide permitting process:
 Collect information on road related permits from the web sites of all
counties in the state.
 Conduct a phone survey with personnel from county road and bridge
departments to get as much details as possible on the permitting process,
requirements, and cost.
 Collect information on any other related issues such as required
enforcement.
 Develop a draft for a uniform industrial permitting process for all counties.
 Present that process to the WACERS group for comments and approval.
 Present the WACERS approved version to the Wyoming County
Commissioner Association for approval.
 Adopt the uniform industrial permit by all counties statewide.
Figure 3.14 shows how Laramie County keeps track of the oversize/overweight
permits. It is clear that the number of these permits has increased significantly in recent
years.
Figure 3.14 Oversize/overweight (OS/OW) permits in Laramie County.
27
3.10 Chapter Summary
In this chapter, the general outlines for data collection and analysis strategies
were established. It is important that counties collect the appropriate inventory and
condition data on their infrastructure so that they can evaluate their needs and keep
their roadways in serviceable conditions. The proposed methodology will enable
counties to make cost effective decisions which will insure that limited resources are
invested wisely. In addition, law makers can use the generated information to
compensate local governments impacted by heavy truck traffic associated with drilling
activities.
The proposed approach for developing a uniform statewide industrial permitting
process will make it easier for oil and gas companies to operate in all Wyoming
Counties.
28
CHAPTER 4
DATA AVAILABILITY IN STUDY AREA
Meetings were held with road and bridge personnel from the four counties
included in this study. The main objective of these meetings was to assess data
availability and to build consensus on the overall directions of the study. Initial
assessment of data availability is needed when any county is interested in evaluating
the impact of oil and gas drilling activities. This chapter summarizes the available and
missing data in Converse, Goshen, Laramie, and Platte Counties.
4.1 Converse County Data
All information for Converse County was obtained from Scott McWilliams, Road
Foreman, Converse County Road and Bridge.
o Maps:
 Two detailed maps of Converse County were provided. These
maps clearly showed state and county roads.
o Drilling Permits:
 A list of well permits was obtained (Wyoming Oil and Gas
Conservation Commission).
 The list contains 80 permits.
 Chesapeake Energy Corporation alone has 140 wells staked and
are still needing to permit the last 60 locations.
o Other Permits:
 Converse County only has Access permits at this time.
 This permit is available on the county website.
 The County is working towards implementing a Road Use
Agreement process.
 The County does not have Oversize/Overweight (OS/OW) permits
at this point.
o Traffic Counts:
 Converse County provided traffic counts on several county roads
from 2009. A few of these roads were identified as impacted by
drilling activities.
 Converse County has a few traffic counts on selected sections in
2011. There is a need to collect additional traffic counts on several
impacted county roads.
 Converse County will use the six traffic counters they obtained from
the WYT2/LTAP Center to collect the needed data.
o County Road List:
 A complete county road list of unpaved and paved roads was
provided by Converse County.
29
o
o
o
o
o
o
 The list of paved roads was provided by WYDOT.
Roadway Conditions:
 Paved Roads: video logs for all paved roads in Converse County
were collected by Pathway in the summer of 2011. The WYT2/LTAP
Center obtained that information from WYDOT. The information will
be reduced, analyzed, and summarized in a comprehensive data
base.
 Unpaved Roads: Converse County does not keep records of the
conditions of its unpaved roads. The WYT2/LTAP center will obtain
this information on all impacted roads in the county if Converse
County is added to Phase II.
Pavement Thicknesses:
 Converse County does not have specific information on the
thicknesses of all paved roads. In general, road thicknesses are
believed to be as follows:
 Asphalt – 2.5”-4”
 Base - 6”-8”
 Converse County has actual pavement thicknesses on three
recently constructed projects.
Maintenance Records:
 Converse County keeps track of its own maintenance records. This
data should be very useful for evaluating the impact of drilling
activities in the county.
Impacted Roads:
 Mr. McWilliams identified roads most impacted by oil and gas
drilling activities. The level of impact was also identified as high or
low. Figure 4.1 shows the impacted roads. The following locations
are expected to have more traffic related to drilling activities:
 Dill Hall Road has 9 current wells.
 Flat Top Road has 4 current wells.
 East Antelope Road has 4 current wells.
 Approximately 50% of the water being hauled to wells is
coming from the city of Douglas.
Work Force:
 Converse County Road and Bridge Department has a crew of 15
employees.
 11 operators
 2 mechanics
 1 clerk
 1 Road Forman
Other Information:
 3 cattle guards have been severely damaged by heavy traffic in just
the past month.
 Delineators along county roads have had severe damage caused
by heavy truck traffic.
30
LEGEND
High impact
Low impact
Other road
Figure 4.1 Roads impacted by drilling activities in Converse County.
31
4.2 Goshen County Data
All data for Goshen County was obtained from Gary Korell, Superintendent,
Goshen County Road & Bridge.
o Maps: Goshen County provided WYDOT maps of the County. In addition,
a Rural Addressing Map was provided. The naming used on that map is
different from the WYDOT map and will correspond better to the
information recorded by the county.
o Drilling Areas:
For the most part, the main impact in Goshen County can be narrowed
down to the area located south of the Platte River and west of Highway
85.
 This small area has 3 wells currently being drilled
 Activity has picked up the past couple weeks and could possibly
increase over the next few weeks.
 Fidelity Oil Company has started activities in the south part
of the county.
 Marathon is possibly beginning wells in the next 3-4 weeks
 There is a proposed gas pipe-line to be constructed through the
heart of Goshen County and is tentatively scheduled to begin
construction next spring. It may also affect Laramie County.
o Impacted roads:
 Figure 4.2 summarizes the locations of the impacted roads.
 The location of a gravel pit was also identified. It was
mentioned that there is interest in developing another pit just
SE of the current one.
o Traffic Counts:
 Goshen County has been collecting traffic volumes. These traffic
counts will be made available to the WYT2/LTAP Center staff.
o Roadway Conditions:
 Paved Roads: video logs for all paved roads in Goshen County
were collected by Pathway in the summer of 2011. The WYT2/LTAP
Center obtained that information from WYDOT. The information will
be reduced, analyzed, and summarized in a comprehensive data
base.
 Unpaved Roads: Goshen County does not keep records of the
conditions of its unpaved roads. The WYT2/LTAP center will obtain
this information on all impacted roads in the County.
o Pavement Thickness:
 Most paved roads in Goshen County were built 40 years ago.
 The county is way behind on crack sealing.
 Many of the roads are beginning to show alligator cracking.
 Many of the roads are at the end of their useful life.
32

o
o
o
o
The county does not have the resources to maintain and upgrade
these roads.
 Out of the 1200 miles of county roads, there is no line item for
maintenance in Goshen County’s budget.
 The county receives $450,000 from the CRF every year to cover
the cost of maintenance and any construction. This funding level is
inadequate.
 Goshen County has taken core samples on several of the county
roads. These coring reports will be made available to the
WYT2/LTAP Center.
Maintenance Data:
 Goshen County uses PubWorks for collecting all maintenance
activities of their local roads.
 All of the maintenance data will be provided to the WYT2/LTAP
Center.
OS/OW Permits:
 Goshen County does not have a concrete method in place for
OS/OW permits.
 Prior to recent drilling activities, the county did not have OS/OW
permits at all.
 Companies secure a one-time permit for $1000 from the county for
all activities.
Permitting Issues:
 Goshen County has adopted some of Laramie County
Rules/Regulations and permits.
 A standard road use agreement is of very high concern to Goshen
County.
 The County adopted its Road use Agreement from WYDOT’s
agreement for Wind Farms on Road 313.The agreement should
help in setting up plans with companies to better predict where
improvements are needed on county roads.
Additional Items and Concerns:
 Goshen County is concerned about the impact of future years and
how to prepare for the improvements needed on impacted roads. A
pavement management system which is updated annually should
help in addressing these concerns.
 The frac sand is being hauled into Wheatland via trains and trucked
to wells in Platte and Goshen County.
 Trucks are transporting materials from Goshen County gravel pits
and water storage wells to Platte County.
 OS/OW trucks are required to avoid Torrington
 To accommodate this, WYDOT is improving State Hwy 156
as a by-pass of Torrington.
 This by-pass will cause more traffic to divert over to County
Road 41B.
33
LEGEND
High impact
Low impact
Other road
Figure 4.2 Roads impacted by drilling activities in Goshen County.
34
4.3 Laramie County Data
All information for Laramie County was obtained from Don Beard, Director,
Laramie County Public Works.
o Maps:
Laramie County provided a detailed map of Laramie County complete with
state land, BLM land, and all local roads.
o Impacted Roads:
Impacted roads were identified on the county map as shown in Figure 4.3.
The main cause of impact along the southern border of Wyoming is due to
the Northern Colorado gas field.
o Roadway Conditions:
 Paved Roads: video logs for all paved roads in Laramie County
were collected by Pathway in the summer of 2011. The WYT2/LTAP
Center will reduce, analyze, and summarize the information in a
comprehensive data base.
 Unpaved Roads: Laramie County does not keep records of the
conditions of its unpaved roads. The WYT2/LTAP center will obtain
this information on all impacted roads in the County.
o Pavement Information:
 Most of Laramie County roads are 40-50 years old.
 Paved roads were constructed using similar paving materials.
 There are no records of actual pavement thicknesses.
 County roads were constructed with 3”-3 ½” of pavement over 4”
base.
 Newer county roads are generally constructed with 3 ½” pavement
over 6” base.
 Overlays are generally constructed 2” thick.
 There are no double chip seal in Laramie County.
o Maintenance Records:
 Laramie County keeps track of all maintenance activities of their
local roads.
 The county has developed its own program to keep track of
equipment, labor, and materials costs.
 The county provided printed, hard copies, of maintenance records
between 2008 and 2011.
o Traffic Counts:
 The county provided records of old traffic counts which did not
include truck traffic.
 The Cheyenne MPO may have some traffic counts in the greater
Cheyenne area.
o Permits:
 Laramie County has OS/OW permits on the county website.
 Raw data on OS/OW permits is available.
 Laramie County provided some graphs showing the increase in
permits in recent years.
35
LEGEND
High impact
Low impact
Other road
36
Figure 4.3 Roads impacted by drilling activities in Laramie County.
37
4.4 Platte County Data
All information on Platte County roads were obtained from Jim Lockman,
Superintendent, Platte County Road and Bridge.
o Maps:
Platte County provided a county map identifying all local roads.
o Pavement Thicknesses:
 There are no existing files containing road designs on paved roads
in Platte County. Jim stated that due to the historically poor nature
of the county, any large scale county road projects in the past had
been completed with assistance of the state.
o Roadway Conditions:
 Paved Roads: video logs for all paved roads in Platte County were
collected by Pathway in the summer of 2011. The WYT2/LTAP
Center obtained that information from WYDOT. The information will
be reduced, analyzed, and summarized in a comprehensive data
base.
 Unpaved Roads: Platte County does not keep records of the
conditions of its unpaved roads. The WYT2/LTAP center will obtain
this information on all impacted roads in the County.
o Maintenance:
 County improvements for 2011 included 17 miles of chip seal over
a 2-week period
 This consumed approximately ¼ of Platte County’s annual
budget and totaled approximately $260,000.This
improvement cost included equipment, materials, and labor.
 Platte County has a semi-itemized break down of projects
along with other large scale maintenance activities for the
past four years.
 Platte County does not keep track of its maintenance records.
o Permits:
 Platte County has no permitting process for over-weight hauling.
Therefore, the county has no information regarding the number of
trucks potentially impacting the county roadways.
 There are no portable scales to weigh trucks to enforce permits.
 Platte County needs help in implementing and enforcing an overweight permitting system.
 Platte County does issue Encroachment Licenses. According to the
county, 11permits were issued recently.
 Majority of encroachment licenses have been submitted by RKI (out
of Tulsa).
 Seismograph has been completed on the entire area of southern
Platte County.
 Geo-Kinetics is the primary company seen around Wheatland
completing the seismograph.
o Potential Impacts on County Roads
38

Water transportation by truck as well as possible gravel
transportation by truck into western Goshen County.
 Importing of frac sand by rail car into distribution centers in
Wheatland and Chugwater.
 The county is aware of fact sand shipments into the Northern
edge of Wheatland and trucks are transporting the sand to
nearby wells.
 Chugwater is establishing a similar operation at the old grain
silo in town.
o Impacted Locations:
 Majority of current impacts on county roads is located on the east
side of I-25 in the approx. vicinity of T22-23 R65-67 in Platte
County. Figure 4.4 shows these impacted roads.
 The locations of three water holding wells were identified in Platte
County.
 The location of a gravel pit was also identified.
 Truck could be using Slater Road to haul water and other resources
to western Goshen County. The majority of the Slater Road is state
highway; however, the final section before entering western
Goshen County is a County maintained gravel road.
o Platte County high priority roads include:
 Bordeaux Road
 Low quality chip-seal road
 Pioneer Road
 Believed to be inverted penetration.
 It is Soft, rutted, with a thin surface.
 Approx. 9 miles long with 4.5 miles in poor condition.
 Slater Road
 The County maintained Gravel Road section.
4.5 Data Summary
Data availability in the four counties included in this evaluation is summarized in
Table 4.1. The red cells reflect required data which should be collected in future phases.
The green cells reflect data which is currently available. The WYT2/LTAP has already
collected some of the available data from the four counties. More efforts will be invested
in the second phase of this study to obtain the rest of the available data.
39
LEGEND
High impact
Low impact
Other road
Figure 4.4 Roads impacted by drilling activities in Platte County.
40
Table 4.1 Data availability in the study area.
Data
Converse
Goshen
List of paved roads
List of unpaved roads
Functional classification of
unpaved roads
Functional classification of paved
roads
Traffic Data ADT
Long-term traffic data
Truck traffic
Conditions of paved roads
Conditions of unpaved roads
Condition of Cattle guards
Overweight permits
Approach permits
Locations of oil and gas activities
Impact classification
Pavement type and thickness
Maintenance Cost
41
Laramie
Platte
4.6
Chapter Summary
It is clear from the information presented in this chapter that the four counties
already have some of the basic data required to assess the conditions of their
roadways. It is important that the rest of the data is collected so that recommendations
can be made with regard to the current conditions and required infrastructure upgrades.
Keeping local roads in serviceable conditions will benefit both the driving public and the
oil and gas industry.
42
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary
The southeastern corner of the state of Wyoming has started experiencing
heavier truck traffic associated with oil and gas drilling activities. The interstate and
state highway systems were built to handle truck traffic. However, local roads were built
to handle only local and light truck traffic. Subjecting these local roads to the traffic
associated with oil and gas drilling activities may result in accelerated deteriorations and
failure in some cases. Implementing the recommendations of this study should result in
a comprehensive assessment of the overall conditions of local infrastructure. Such
implementation should result in more equitable allocations of resources to impacted
local governments while documenting the actual damage caused by new users. These
resources will help in providing the driving public with the service they expect on local
roads. In addition, insuring the adequacy of local roads will provide the oil and gas
industry with the means to get their equipment to drilling sites and then deliver their
products efficiently to markets.
5.2 Conclusions
This study was conducted to develop a systematic methodology and data
collection strategies to mitigate the impact of oil and gas drilling activities on local roads.
Considerations were made to conduct a planning/ forecasting study similar to the North
Dakota approach [1]. That study clearly demonstrated that the impact of oil and gas
drilling activities on local roads is very significant. If a similar planning study were to be
performed in Wyoming, it is certain that the forecasted needs would be of a similar
magnitude to the needs in North Dakota.
5.2.1 Data Collection and Analysis Strategies
Instead of conducting a study duplicating the North Dakota approach; efforts in
Wyoming should concentrate on helping impacted counties in developing their own
Asset Management Systems. Such systems would enable Wyoming counties to collect
condition data on their roadways so that actual impacts of drilling activities can be
determined. Maintenance and rehabilitation strategies based on actual rather than
projected conditions can be then recommended, implemented, and evaluated over time.
Wyoming DOT as well as other DOTs in the region follow a similar approach with their
Pavement Management Systems. Continuous monitoring of the conditions of roads is a
good management tool which will help impacted Wyoming counties for years to come.
Based on the assessment conducted in this study, the following conclusions are made
so that local governments can mitigate the impact of drilling activities associated with
energy development:
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1. Impacted counties should implement management systems which would
provide them with the ability to monitor the conditions of their infrastructure
over time.
2. The data collection process described in Chapter three of this report
should be considered when collecting the required data.
3. It is important that the condition data is collected uniformly in all counties
so that systematic maintenance and rehabilitation strategies can be
recommended. Uniformity in data collection will help in comparing projects
from different counties.
4. The collected data should be analyzed based on the procedures
developed by the WYT2/LTAP. These procedures can be adjusted to
reflect variations in maintenance and rehabilitation strategies followed by
various local governments around the state. The WYT2/LTAP can help
counties with the data analysis so that specific improvement
recommendations can be made.
5. Special attention should be given to collecting traffic data. The traffic
counts should include vehicle classification as well as speed information.
6. Counties should collect information on their maintenance and
rehabilitation activities using PubWorks or any other available software.
Such information is useful in quantifying the impact of heavy truck traffic
on maintenance expenditures.
7. It is important that the thicknesses of paved roads are obtained in order to
determine the structural strength of these sections. In addition, the type
and quality of each pavement layer should be identified.
8. It is important to mention here that asset management systems require
annual updates and continuous data analysis to get the intended benefits.
9. The process developed in this study can be implemented by all interested
counties in the state.
5.2.2 Assessment of Counties in Southeastern Wyoming
A comprehensive assessment was conducted to evaluate data availability in the
impacted counties in the southeastern corner of the state. This effort considered data
related to the following infrastructure: paved local roads, unpaved local roads and cattle
guards. The following observations can be drawn based on the assessment performed:
1. The Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is a good source to
obtain locations for drilling permits and water wells around the state.
2. County Road and Bridge personnel are very familiar with locations of the
drilling activities within their jurisdictions. These personnel cooperated fully
with the research team and provided information on the data that they
have.
3. Local Road and Bridge personnel identified roads currently impacted by
drilling activities. These impacted locations will change from year to year
depending on the drilling activities.
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4. Chapter four documented the available and required data to mitigate the
impact of drilling activities in the southeastern corner of the state. It is
clear from that assessment that follow up studies should concentrate on
collecting the following information:
a. Traffic counts
b. Surface condition data on paved and unpaved roads
c. Conditions of cattle guards
d. Maintenance and rehabilitation records
e. Thicknesses of paved roads. It is clear from chapter four that actual
pavement thicknesses are not available.
5. Some of the counties have implemented a process for over size/over
weight permits in addition to industrial permits while other counties have
not implemented such permits.
6. The counties may not have the man power/resources to handle the impact
without additional help.
5.2.3 Follow up Studies
In order to help the impacted counties in the southeastern corner of the state, the
findings and recommendations of this study should be implemented in two subsequent
phases.
5.2.3.1 Phase II
Information on the proposed asset management approach has been shared with
the following groups:

WYDOT staff.

County Engineers and Road Supervisors in the impacted counties.

Wyoming Association of County Engineers and Road Supervisors
(WACERS).
 Wyoming County Commissioners Association (WCCA).
These groups accepted implementing the data collection process associated with
asset management systems to document the conditions of local infrastructure impacted
by drilling activities. That acceptance resulted in funding the second phase of this study.
Phase II will concentrate on collecting data on the impacted roads immediately
so that recommendations can be made to law makers on the overall conditions and
needed immediate improvements. A proposal has already been approved for funding to
collect data in Goshen, Laramie, and Platte County. Efforts are underway to add
Converse County to that effort. Recommendations for improvements will be based on
the collected data which includes: drilling wells locations, maintenance, traffic, and
roadway conditions.
Phase II will also develop a uniform industrial agreement which can be used by
all counties across the state. This agreement will make it easier for oil and gas
companies to apply for permits in various counties. In addition, it will make it possible for
counties such as Platte County to implement such agreements.
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5.2.3.2 Phase III
Phase III will help with the continuous monitoring and implementation of the
proposed asset management system. As shown in Figure 5.1, Phase III will result in
developing annual needs in the four counties in southeastern Wyoming. This is
important since some of the counties included in phase II may not have been fully
impacted by drilling activities. The continuous monitoring of their infrastructure will
insure that adequate resources are allocated based on when the impact will take place.
In this proposed phase, a close working relationship will be developed with the counties
to insure that the proposed recommendations are consistent with their needs and
expectations.
Figure 5.1 Annual Recommendations from Phase III.
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5.3 Recommendations
The following recommendations are made based on the assessment performed
in this study:
1. It is recommended that counties should implement the proposed asset
management system approach to document the conditions of their
infrastructure, identify needed improvements, and make cost effective
decisions. Such systematic approach will provide local officials and law
makers with the required information to insure fair allocations of limited
resources based on actual conditions.
2. It is recommended that all counties around the state would implement a
uniform industrial permitting process. Such standard industrial permits for
all counties around the state will make it easier for oil and gas companies
to operate in all counties. It will also help counties with inadequate
resources in implementing such permits. Phase II will develop the process
for such permits.
3. Phase I confirmed that Counties do not have adequate information on
pavement thicknesses. It is important that resources are allocated to core
paved sections to obtain pavement and base thicknesses.
4. A process should be developed for evaluating bridges with a span less
than 20’. These bridges will carry some of the heavy truck traffic
associated with energy developments and they are maintained by local
governments.
5. It is essential that adequate resources are allocated for Phase III so that
the intended benefits of implementing the proposed asset management
system can be achieved.
47
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