The Maintenance Division is responsible for roadway maintenance, snow removal, tile crossing repair, bridge and culvert repair, ditch cleaning, dust control, and roadway signing. These functions performed by the Maintenance Division are under the direction of the County Engineer. The main shop is located at 901 E. Boone St. in Marshalltown, Iowa.

Roadway Maintenance

The County maintains three types of roads. The types are paved or dust free, granular surfaced, and non-surfaced (dirt) roads.

The paved roads are primarily maintained by hiring contractors to perform resurfacing, crack filling, pavement repair and pavement markings. Shoulder maintenance along these roads is usually done with county personnel.

Granular surfaced roads are maintained by the annual application of either rock or gravel along with periodic blading of the roadway surface by county personnel. The annual application of granular surfacing is applied by contract. County forces apply spot applications of granular surfacing as needed. County personnel operating out of various maintenance facilities located around the county perform the blading. The County normally has eight motor graders engaged in the blading operation for the 720 miles of granular surfaced and 22 miles of dirt roads. This number is augmented with up to eight additional units should the weather conditions dictate and allow. The number of miles that any one motor grader is responsible for varies with surfacing type, location and traffic volumes. In addition to our central facility located in Marshalltown, the county has facilities located at 1655 Hopkins Ave, 2848 Gerhart Ave, 2827 160th St and 2888 Underwood Ave.

While granular surfaced roads are bladed on a regular basis, dirt roads are bladed on an as needed basis. Under certain weather conditions, a dirt road may only be bladed two or three times in a year.

Snow Removal

Marshall County's existing snow removal equipment is utilized for the purpose of clearing all snow or ice, sanding, salting, and other maintenance. These services are accomplished by using the money budgeted following the guidelines of the Snow Removal Ordinance adopted by the Board of Supervisors. The county has available for snow removal 16 motor graders, eight single axle trucks, eight tandem axle trucks, two end loaders and two snow blowers. Fourteen of the trucks are capable of spreading sand or salt in addition to plowing snow. One truck is capable of spreading a liquid salt or calcium solution upon the roadway. As a general rule, the motor graders remove snow from the granular roads and the trucks works on the paved system; however, on occasion, they can be intermixed on the various road surfaces.

Tile Crossings

Drainage tile that cross the roadway is the county's responsibility to maintain. If you suspect a problem exists with a road tile crossing or you would like to install a new crossing, you should contact the County Engineer's Office.

Bridge and Culvert Repairs

Any damage to a bridge should be reported to the County Engineer's Office. The County through it's own forces and with the help of contractors maintain the bridges and culverts of the county. The county maintains most driveway culverts onto a county road.

Ditch Cleaning

The county cleans ditches to maintain or improve roadway drainage. Ditches are also used for snow storage during winter months. Requests for ditch cleaning far exceed our ability to clean ditches and are prioritized on need, request date, location and other circumstances. We must seek approval from the Iowa One Call System prior to cleaning any ditch. The Iowa One Call approval can take up to three working days to acquire; therefore, when our equipment is in the area it does not mean that we will be able to clean the ditch. The dirt that is in the ditch belongs to the county to dispose of as they see fit. If you feel that a road ditch needs to be cleaned and/or you would like the dirt, you should contact the County Engineer's Office.

Dust Control

The county does not apply dust control except in cases of when your road is established as a detour or haul road. You must have a permit to install any form of dust control to the road surface. If you would like dust control, contact the County Engineer's Office.

Roadway Signing

The County erects and maintains approximately 8,000 signs on the Secondary Road System. Signs are expensive to erect and maintain. Marshall County has a two-person crew that works full time on sign maintenance.