After much hard work, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, increased funding streams for their paving program — but the transportation department realized that no matter how innovative their funding, it could not keep pace with the standard 15-year pavement life cycle. Instead, the department looked for alternative ways to preserve the county’s pavement for a longer amount of time.

“We have tried various preservation products on many of our paving projects and have formulated a process that we believe will take us to our goal of reaching a 30-year pavement life cycle,” said Bryan Olson, Transportation Director for the Sheboygan County Transportation Department Highway Division.

With a population of more than 117,000, Sheboygan County is comprised of 28 municipalities and is located on the shore of Lake Michigan. The county manages more than 2,100 centerline miles.

Their pavement preservation strategy is based on education and research, including a live traffic test track (Sheboygan County Operational Pavement Preservation Evaluation, or SCOPE), and participation in preservation efforts through the National Road Research Alliance (NRRA).

The county focuses on “pre-preservation” treatments like void-reducing asphalt membranes (VRAM) — approximately 15 miles in 2024 alone — and penetrating asphalt emulsions to extend maintenance timelines. By investing in a less expensive preservation treatment instead of investing in a new surface at year 15, they use the savings to complete needed improvements on other roads.

“To meet the needs of our growing and aging infrastructure nationwide, pavement preservation is the key,” Olson said.

With their proactive approach to emerging trends in preservation, Sheboygan County earned the 2024 FP2 Inc. James B. Sorenson Award for Excellence in Pavement Preservation. The award recognizes superior pavement preservation practices, usually in a city, township, county, or state agency.

The award was presented to Sheboygan County at the January 2025 Winter Highway Conference, conducted by the Wisconsin County Highway Association.

Sheboygan County, like many Wisconsin counties, had a robust chip sealing program for many years prior to an agreement with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT). WisDOT did little regarding early-life preventive treatments leading up to the agreement. When it became clear to WisDOT that processes such as chip sealing were required to stretch budget dollars, Sheboygan County stepped up to offer expertise.

“I knew the asphalt overlay would last longer with the proper maintenance in the future,” Olson said. “I began to have conversations with our DOT area maintenance specialist and his supervisor about trying to chip seal a segment of STH 144. After meeting with them and showing them other completed chip sealing projects throughout the county, the DOT agreed in 2022 to chip seal a 10,000-foot segment of STH 144, which resulted in an outstanding outcome with the remaining 5 miles of road being chip sealed in 2023.”

Olson and his team also invest significant time and resources into working with local municipalities to improve pavement outcomes. Acting as a consultant to the local municipalities builds trust and removes an additional barrier between the public and the decision makers.

The amount of local municipal work completed by Sheboygan County has grown steadily since 2016, sometimes at rates of over 10 percent annually. Sheboygan County is an influential leader in regional preservation activities. From interstates and state highways to the county and down to the lowest volume township roads, Sheboygan County is a case study in vertically integrated pavement preservation.

Wisconsin, like many states, is using centerline rumble strips (CLRS) at an increasing rate, and Sheboygan County sees this as likely to continue. Sheboygan County is an active participant in an ongoing research project funded by NRRA titled “Materials-Based Methods to Improve Rumble Strip Durability.” The project aims to identify materials that can be used to preserve the integrity of the CLRS from the time of construction.

Sheboygan County agreed to allow researchers to install two preservation treatments to a section of CTH LL the county had planned to rebuild in 2023. Although CLRS were not originally planned for CTH LL, an exaggerated S-curve running through the project made it a suitable candidate, and the county agreed. Construction took place in August and September 2023. Sections using VRAM were installed prior to paving the upper layer, and sections using a penetrating asphalt emulsion were applied after milling of the CLRS. Untreated control sections will allow the county and researchers to monitor performance with time.

In 2020, a 6-mile segment of a highway in southern Sheboygan County was budgeted for full reconstruction. Consulting with industry colleagues, the county decided to use the segment as a live-traffic, full-scale research section called the Sheboygan County Operational Pavement Preservation Evaluation. SCOPE is built from a concept similar to MnROAD or the NCAT Test Track, but SCOPE is uniquely focused on preservation at the county level.

By addressing common problem areas during construction, a pavement will age and exhibit distresses in a more consistent and predictable way. Longitudinal joints, for example, are commonly one of the first areas to exhibit distress. During construction of SCOPE, Sheboygan County installed VRAM along one section and joint adhesive along another. The benefits of these treatments were clear to the county, and VRAM has been used by the county every season since SCOPE.

“This proactive approach has led to better understanding of roadway stresses and how to better maintain our roadway infrastructure," Olson said. “Using products such as VRAM, we are seeing the huge benefit of keeping our center seams together sealed from the opportunity of moisture seeping into the roadbed. Sealcoating our roads earlier is proving to help to combat the damaging effects that UV has on the roadway surfaces, maintaining the structural integrity for the next 20 to 30 years.”

In 2016, leaders within Sheboygan County, including past Transportation Director Greg Schnell, submitted a proposal to the Sheboygan County Board of Supervisors for a 0.5 percent county sales tax to support transportation infrastructure needs within the county. A similar initiative was voted down twice before, once in 2004 and again in 2009.

By working with the local business community, local municipalities, and taxpayers, the third time was the charm. County leadership took an important step to dedicate revenue generated from the sales tax to transportation only. A portion of the tax is also shared directly with local municipalities ($1.6 million in 2023), which is put toward improving critical local infrastructure.

The tax revenues produce a more predictable revenue stream, allowing Sheboygan County to plan several years into the future with a higher level of confidence. In 2023, the county was able to budget chip sealing on 32 miles of road, which is more than a 200 percent increase from 2016 before the tax revenue was available.

"In a time when budgets were tightening and material costs were on [the] rise, through the sales tax, we were able to expand our paving program to include more pavement preservation programs," Olson said.

Transparency is key to Sheboygan County’s success. The county maintains an up-to-date web page with project and treatment information, including a printable summary of all paving, reconstruction, and preservation work. The website prominently displays information about the 0.5 percent sales tax. For larger projects, the county holds public information meetings, inviting the public through direct mailings and local newspaper advertisements. During projects, portable message boards and clear signage keep the public informed about progress and important updates.

Much of the county’s preservation work is performed by their own employees, with help from subcontractors providing the missing pieces, including equipment, labor, and specific products, Olson said.

“We rely on and appreciate the products and technical support from companies like H.G. Meigs and others which are crucial in our success,” he said.

Olson said that the greatest strength of the Sheboygan County Highway Division is “our dedicated team of like-minded, goal-oriented staff.” According to Olson, the best way to preserve and leverage this strength is “by providing the staff with the tools and resources needed to produce and install a well-maintained road infrastructure.”

Jim Sorenson (1949-2009) was Senior Construction and System Preservation Engineer for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Asset Management, and he was a champion of pavement preservation at the national level. He was born in Montana on July 28, 1949, and received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 1976 from Montana State University at Bozeman, where he had worked as an Engineering Assistant to the City Engineer following four years in the Vietnam War.

Sorenson worked in several FHWA field and headquarters offices, culminating in his position in the Office of Asset Management, where he traveled the country promoting pavement preservation to state and local road agencies, when he was not leading the effort to fund pavement preservation at the national level. There, he was responsible for technical assistance, policy development, and research guidance in the areas of construction and maintenance operations, transportation system preservation, asset management, and FHWA’s external Quality Management Program.

FP2 honors Sorenson’s memory with the James B. Sorenson Award.

"At FP2, we lead the advancement of pavement preservation and recycling," FP2 President Dave Henderson said. "Our objective is to support 'Preserving Pavements via the Right Treatment, on the Right Pavement at the Right Time.' One way we accomplish our mission is by recognizing public agencies and municipalities which practice superior pavement preservation and recycling via our James B. Sorenson Award.”

Editor’s Note: Article adapted from the spring 2025 issue of Pavement Preservation Journal. Photos courtesy of FP2.