While our unseasonably warm temperatures provide a nice break from Michigan’s long winter season, inevitably they also offer another break that’s not so nice. Our little winter respite may relieve the cabin fever, but it is also prime pothole birthing season as a result.
Nobody knows the truth of that battle nearly such much as crews from teams like the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Berrien County Road Commission who are charged with resolving the ever increasing parade of pulverized pavement.
With each sustained warmup that arrives, the roads that have been frozen begin to thaw from the surface downward, and the melting snow and ice saturate the ground. The roadbed, softened by trapped moisture beneath the pavement, is more susceptible to damage during every significant thaw. A sustained thaw typically happens only once a year in the spring but not this year. Continuous temperatures above and below freezing have created several freeze-thaw cycles, which also create this ugly, dangerous, bone-jarring potholes.
Kirk Steudle is Director of State Transportation at MDOT. He admits, “It’s normal to get a few days throughout the winter that are warmer than usual, but this year has been unusually sporadic.” As a result, he says, “Extreme temperature fluctuations create many issues for road maintenance.”
Potholes are most prevalent during freeze/thaw cycles, when water penetrates the pavement surface and refreezes, pushing the pavement up. Vehicles then push the pavement back down, breaking it and starting a new pothole.
Mark Geib serves as Steudle’s Engineer of Operations at MDOT. He wants to get the bad news of new potholes quickly, telling us, “The quicker we know about where potholes are forming, the sooner we can get them patched.” Geib says, “Patching them won’t last, but will help get us through until warmer temperatures are sustained.”
If you spot a pothole on an I-, US- or M-designated route, you can report it to the MDOT Pothole Hotline at 888-296-4546, by going online to MDOT’s “Report a Pothole” website at https://goo.gl/x6Rgo9, or by calling your local MDOT Transportation Service Center (TSC) or region office.
Click this link to see how pot holes come into being:
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/RealityCheckMyth3_453581_7.pdf
