We had the honor of interviewing one of our awesome staff from The Ginn Group to tell us more about one of the many projects they are routinely working on. Today, we interviewed Aubrey D. Rains – Supervisor of Surface Area Roads & Grounds (or SARG). Rains works to maintain surfaces and roads around Fort Knox. “A surface area can be defined as any road made up of a material that then requires maintenance to be used by pedestrians, vehicles, and military equipment,” says Aubrey.
SARG maintains everything from walking paths to airfields in a variety of inclement weather conditions. Maintaining these roads starts with an idea and a design catered to the landscape. That land will then be surveyed and an estimate for the cost of construction or repairs will be put together. Once approved, The Ginn Group is contracted to maintain the road on a schedule laid out by the client.
Every road needs a certain type of maintenance. This typically depends on the material that made the road. For example, there are dirt, gravel, concrete, and asphalt roads, each requiring its own type of upkeep. If needed, dirt or gravel would be added to aggregate the roadbed with a heavy truck. Afterward, a road grader would grade the road, followed by compacting the road with a road roller. A concrete or asphalt road can
sometimes be maintained by filling in potholes with a patch product, but if not, a section of the road must be removed completely to restore it to a usable condition.
Maintenance of these roads is very important. Aubrey tells us, “Without proper maintenance of roadways and ditch lines, water can gain access to sub-base material that makes up the foundation of the roadbed.” This can allow for the destruction of the road, which would cost time and money for Fort Knox.
The Ginn Group is depended upon in many aspects of maintenance for roads at Fort Knox. We maintain more than 240 miles of gravel range roads during a contract year. SARG maintains roads at all times of the year by plowing and repairing all priority roads in the Fort’s area, no matter the material of the road.
The Ginn Group acts as a sort of ‘first responder’ in all types of situations that fall under SARG. For example, inclement weather, hazmat cleanups, fallen trees, vehicle recovery, herbicide application, cemetery maintenance, and other military exercises that require support.
To learn more about the road maintenance operations at Fort Knox and other projects that The Ginn Group oversees, contact us today!
