Road to Ruin —
Metal scraps found in Deer Springs Loop gravel

ABOVE: Linda and Lily Begay hold a box of metal scraps while standing on the road known as Deer Springs Loop, which is also known as N9505, near Mexican Springs on Thursday afternoon. Starting in April, the Begays and others began getting flat tires after driving on the road. A closer inspection revealed that scraps of metal were scattered on the road along with the gravel. BELOW: Lily Begay walks along Deer Springs Loop, also known as N9505, looking for pieces of metal near Mexican Springs on Thursday afternoon. Starting in April, Begay and others began getting flat tires after driving on the road. A closer inspection revealed that scraps of metal were scattered on the road along with the gravel..— © 2008 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

TWIN LAKES — The Deer Springs Loop north of Gallup in the Twin Lakes area is like every other county road in the area except for one thing — it’s the flat tire capital of the area.

Charles Kendall, roads supervisor for the county, discovered the reason why one day last week. He made a visit to the road after Kenneth Yazzie complained about the number of flat tires he and his family members have been getting for the past several months traveling on the road to and from their home.

The day before he went out there, Kendall had a county grader go over the road — which is officially known as Navajo 9505 — and what he found even surprised him: The grading brought up a massive amount of wire and nails.

Scott Daughtery, the head of the county roads department, was surprised at what was found. He said he was a little skeptical after listening to Yazzie, but after Kendall gave his report, “I realized we had a big problem.”

Yazzie already knew that the road had a major problem. He and his family had been putting patch upon patch on their tires after driving on the road.

“Other people who live along the road have also been having a lot of flat tires as well,” he said.

He became so disgusted that one day a couple of weeks ago, his family went out and examined several hundred yards of the 3-mile stretch and came up enough metal to fill a good-sized box.

“There were bolts, nails and wires in the gravel,” he said, adding that he complained to the Navajo Police Department in Crownpoint and filed a report with the county.

Daughtery had no problem coming up with a reason for the road’s condition. The problem, he was told, began in March after the road was graveled, so the county began looking at the gravel that was used on the road.

That led Daughtery to Gallup Sand and Gravel, which was the low bidder on the graveling project.

Gene Bodkin, a manager for the company, said the gravel came from the company’s crusher, which was recycling materials from houses and bridges. While wires and nails are common byproducts of the crusher, they are supposed to be removed in the process by two large magnets.

Since all of this occurred back in March, Bodkin said he wasn’t sure what happened in the process that allowed the metal to go through undetected.

But Daughtery said it was obvious that the magnets didn’t do their job, and as a result the road was a mecca for flat tires.

Gallup Sand and Gravel brought its trucks and magnets back to the road on Aug. 29 and picked up a lot of the metal. Daughtery said that the county will have to have the company do that every time the road is graded for the next few months to make sure all of the metal was picked up.

But the question of who should be responsible for the flat tires remains — the owners of the cars, the county or the company that supplied the gravel.

“That’s a legal question,” County Manager Tom Trujillo said, adding that the county would have to check the contract with Gallup Sand and Gravel to see who has the liability. His original thought on the matter, however, would be that the company would be liable.

But there’s still a question of whether Gallup Sand and Gravel was totally responsible, since the problem was first brought to the county’s attention a couple of weeks ago.

“If the problem began with the graveling that was done in March, I’m surprised we didn’t hear about it until now,” said Daughtery.

While not admitting liability, Bodkin said that if the problem was caused by his company, company officials would deal with it “on a case by case basis.”