Pennsylvania's Dirt & Gravel Road Maintenance Program is a pollution prevention program based on local control. Signed into law in April 1997, as Section 9106 of the PA Vehicle Code, the programs purpose is to fund safe, efficient and environmentally sound maintenance of dirt & gravel roads which have been identified as sources of dust & sedimentation pollution.

Five million dollars is annually apportioned to the program with four million of that figure allotted to the State Conservation Commission for distribution to local Conservation Districts. The remaining one million dollars will go to the Department of Conservation & Natural Resources for maintenance and mitigation of pollution from state forestry roads. Local municipalities that maintain dirt & gravel roads are eligible to receive funding. They must submit a one-page grant application to the Quality Assurance Board (QAB) for review. After examination of the applications, the QAB forwards the applications to the Conservation District Board of Directors for approval.

Several townships within Franklin County have had work done on their dirt and gravel roads. The above picture shows the different townships that have had work done on their roads.
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Dirt and Gravel Roads
The county has been given a total of $170,506 (1999 to present) in grant money to implement the Dirt and Gravel Roads Program within Franklin County. The below diagram shows how the money has been distributed. "BMP's" stand for Best Management Practices, in other words the cost of actually fixing the roads, materials etc....
This picture taken from Letterkenny Township gives an example of putting in a culvert under the gravel road in order to prevent future erosion from the road.
The following pictures show several projects that the Franklin County Conservation District has worked on in the past several years. More projects like these will be completed in the future.
This project in Guilford Townships shows the before and after look of a road being worked on. The gravel that is placed on top of the old dirt road is moist so that it will compact better. Notice how much smoother the road becomes after work is done.
An illustration of a gravel road being installed in Metal Township, once again note the moisture content of the gravel being used, this helps for compaction when it is rolled.
These pictures from a project in Warren Township illustrate what was done to an existing pipe drain along side a stream and road. The older system (picture on left) would dump water onto ground creating erosion at point of discharge. The picture on the right shows what was done to prevent erosion. Rocks or rip-rap is installed to prevent erosion.