Editor, The Beacon:
The current widening and construction of the roundabout on Orange Camp Road in DeLand appears to my eyes to be inadequate.
While I will admit that I am not an engineer, I have observed lots of road-construction projects during my lifetime.
The section being done now runs from Interstate 4 to Blue Lake Avenue. The thin surface of asphalt over an equally thin layer of crushed lime rock laid over compressed sand (all we have around here) will never hold up to the intensity of traffic that will pass over that portion of the road.
The area is growing rapidly, and will have to carry an ever-increasing burden of construction trucks, utility trucks, and moving and delivery vehicles, as well as a tremendous volume of residential traffic.
With no concrete base, no deep layer of gravel and no underlying stratum of rock to support the overlying roadway, I predict that the work will need to be redone in approximately four years’ time.
Perhaps the engineers and the contractors can provide a more reassuring guarantee of durability, or perhaps spending a little more upfront in beefing up the base will pay dividends down the road (pun intended).
Don Kanfer
DeLand
