Some abandoned railroad crossings in Covington were finally being paved over Tuesday and a total of 15 crossings should be paved by the end of the week, including the most hated Covington ByPass Road crossing.

Conyers-based Key Curbing and Paving is paving the Norfolk Southern crossings after being awarded the $57,015 contract by the city in April. Newton County is paying for the ByPass Road paving as that section is in the county. Norfolk Southern's rail line in Newton County is no longer being used.

The city had wanted to get the crossings paved in February, but paperwork delays and a lack of a specific kind of asphalt held up the project, according to Transportation Manager Billy Skinner. Key Paving had to wait on a batch of Perma Flex, a special asphalt mix designed to be placed over cracked surfaces. Perma Flex will form the first layer, followed by an asphalt topping mix.

Seven additional crossings will be paid over later this year when their respective streets are resurfaced, including Emory Street, Clark Street, Old Brown Bridge Road, Turner Lake Road, Washington Street, U.S. Highway 278 and Piper Street.

Conyers-based Pittman Construction and Oxford-based MHB Paving will be resurfacing roads during the next couple of months, Skinner said.

Pittman is scheduled to resurface the portion of Ga. Highway 81 between the CSX railroad tracks and U.S. 278 Saturday night and Sunday morning, Skinner said.

Further north on Ga. 81, Pittman is raising manholes and valves back up to grade with the resurfaced portion, and Skinner asked drivers to use caution.