Urbana has been ranked as one of the “Best Places to Live” in the country. Just eight miles southeast of Frederick and thirty-seven miles northwest of the District of Columbia, the quaint town of Urbana is nestled on a beautiful hillside overlooking the Urbana Salt Yard. When the snow starts falling or the roads get ice covered, this facility serves a 150-mile radius of Frederick County.

In August 2021, a huge upgrade began at the Urbana Salt Yard. Upon completion, there will be a new two-story building with offices, a kitchen, and a bunkhouse for weary drivers. In addition, they are constructing a 10,000-ton salt barn structure, a six-bay truck barn, a new wash bay, and a material and equipment storage barn. DHM’s part of this expansion included cutting and filling approximately 23,000 cubic yards, exporting 54,000 cubic yards, and installing storm, sanitary and water lines.

When given the green light, DHM Superintendent Dwayne Judd had the machinery and people onsite and ready to go. From the start, there were two 627 Pans running, a GPS D-6 Dozer and a Roller making the cut and fills. Meanwhile, an trackhoe loading 18 to 20 tri-axle dump trucks daily for the exporting of material. Each dump truck would haul out 10 loads per day – that’s 180-200 loads! When you do the math, that is 2,400 cubic yards per day.

To reach subgrade elevations took just five weeks. A utility crew then moved in and within two weeks they installed 1,000 feet of sewer, water, and storm lines. Dwayne is quick to credit his team for completing the task in a timely manner. Dwayne added “A big accomplishment for us was moving that much material in such a short amount of time, but the guys got the job done.”