CLINTON - DeWitt County highway officials say a bad batch of road-surfacing material led to more than 170 flat tires for motorists using the Waynesville Blacktop after a June 16 road resurfacing.

County Highway Superintendent Craig Fink said the tires were punctured by especially sharp shards of boiler slag applied to the eight-mile stretch of road from Wapella through Waynesville. "Boiler slag" is a coarse, hard, black, angular, glassy material left over after coal is burned.

Fink explained that county workers applied the coal byproduct to the road on June 16 and used a rubber-tired roller on June 19 to go over the material.

The county has used the boiler slag for about six years without problems, said Fink. This time, however, the county received a batch with larger, sharper-edged pieces.

On June 19, calls began to come into the highway department from drivers with flat tires. Fink's car was among those that needed a new tire after traveling on the Wayneville road, also named DeWitt County Highway 9.

"I feel terrible for the people who woke up Monday morning (June 19) and had to spend the day in a tire store," said Fink.

When the problem became apparent, county workers rolled the road again on June 19 with a steel drum roller.

The county arranged to pay for replacing tires damaged over that three-day period. The cost of the new tires will be covered by the county's insurance, said Fink.

Reimbursement for the damaged tires will be based upon the tread condition of the tire before it was harmed, said Fink.

Walker Tire & Exhaust, Clinton, replaced 148 tires on June 24 and another 25 tires this week related to the road problem, according to the tire store.

The highway superintendent said the county has learned two lessons as a result of the incident.

"If we use any more of this material, we will definitely use a steel drum behind it and we won't lay it on Friday and wait until Monday to roll it," said Fink.