Klickitat County is now leasing the quarry and stockpile site east of Bingen that Granite Northwest and Mid-Columbia Asphalt formerly used for their paving operations.
Gordon Kelsey, the county's Public Works Director and Engineer, said the county entered into a lease agreement with Dickey Farms in October 2012. The lease permits the county Public Works Department to use a five-acre stockpile site and the 53-acre quarry for $5,000 per year. Last week, county crews were replacing the main gate and fencing along the front perimeter to secure the site, which sits north of State Route 14.
Said Kelsey, "The Bingen quarry provides the county with a great source of material just a short haul from where it's needed."
He noted that the Public Works Department uses crushed rock materials to maintain the county's gravel and paved roads, "and we've been looking for a quarry site in the southwest corner of the county for several years."
The Public Works Department has one other quarry site on the west side of the county to supply these materials, according to Kelsey, but it is near Glenwood.
"Currently, it's still more economical for us to own and operate quarries to supply these materials, provided it's located near the work site, that is, the longer the haul, the less economical it becomes," Kelsey said.
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