By 8 a.m. motorists would barely know anything had happened but about 1 a.m. Wednesday a truck passing through Fountain Hills inadvertently dumped about 24 tons of rubberized asphalt on the local streets.

The truck was a “belly dumper” on its way to Rio Verde for a mill and overlay project for Maricopa County in Rio Verde.

The truck traveled 29 miles from an asphalt plant on Higley Road near the Loop 202 freeway in Mesa. It appears the bulk of the asphalt was lost along six miles of Shea, Saguaro and Fountain Hills boulevards and McDowell Mountain Road as it traveled through town and headed north.

The driver told Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies he did not know he was losing the load until he arrived at the job site with an empty truck. The driver was cited by deputies.

Town Development Services Director Paul Mood said he estimates the value of the lost asphalt to be about $2,400, plus the replacement material and clean-up expenses.

The trucking company, Otto Trucking, and asphalt supplier, F&F Asphalt, provided the equipment and manpower for the clean-up effort. Using three sweepers and a tractor, crews had the street swept clean by morning drive time.