PennDOT getting on track with potholes

BY MICHAEL J. RUDOLF

If you think there are more potholes on the roads this spring than usual, you’re not alone.

“It’s one of the worst I’ve ever seen,” said Ted Zurla, PennDOT’s maintenance manager for Wyoming and Susquehanna counties.

Hoping that winter weather is finally behind us, Zurla said crews in both counties are starting to attack potholes with a vengeance.

Zurla says there are three main reasons why area roads are falling into disrepair more this year.

First, the harsh winter has taken its toll on the roadways.

According to Zurla, heavy snowfalls along with periodic melting have left a lot of moisture in the ground. That moisture works its way through cracks in the pavement and loosens them. It doesn’t take much traffic to cause chunks to pop out, leaving potholes.

That would be the case with an ordinary traffic load, Zurla said.

However, with the advent of the natural gas industry in the two counties, there has been a significant increase in truck traffic. That puts extra stress on roads that weren’t designed for that much use.

“Each truck tire blows out some asphalt,” Zurla said.

The reason why the roads haven’t been upgraded: money, said Zurla. Because of state budget cutbacks, state roads are not being repaved as frequently as they once were.

“The old asphalt is asked to last a lot longer,” Zurla said.

PennDOT used to repave about 40 to 50 miles of highway in each county every year, Zurla said.

This season, only seven miles of Wyoming County’s 350 miles of state roads are scheduled for paving projects. In Susquehanna County, there are just 11 miles of paving planned of the total 815 miles of state roads.

“We’re doing some bad roads, but not enough,” Zurla said.

Gas companies are helping in some areas, Zurla noted. He said some of them are rebuilding roads that they use frequently, which takes some of the burden off PennDOT.

“Some of the back roads are destroyed by the gas companies, and they’re actually paving them. Whatever they do, we don’t have to do,” he said.

Road crews can’t go all out fixing potholes until the weather cooperates, Zurla explained.

Obviously, he said, when there is snow falling, crews devote their full energy to keeping roadways passable. But even when there are breaks in the weather, only temporary repairs can be made.

That’s mainly because during the winter, the plants where PennDOT (as well as municipal crews) obtain their asphalt are shut down. And fresh asphalt can’t be stockpiled because it hardens relatively quickly.

For emergency repairs during the winter and early spring, Zurla explained that road crews use what is known as cold patch. That is asphalt that is mixed with kerosene products that keep it malleable.

Cold patch will eventually harden as the kerosene evaporates, Zurla said, but that can take several weeks. In the meantime, because the material remains relatively soft, traffic can loosen it up over time, causing it to pop out or disintegrate. That means crews sometimes have to fill the same hole several times.

“Still, it’s better than hitting the pothole,” Zurla said.

Some of the asphalt plants are beginning to open now, said Zurla. That means crews can begin using hot patch, which is the same type of asphalt used in the original paving process. It has no kerosene products mixed into it.

When applied properly, hot patch will last for many months, if not longer, Zurla said.

That means crews have to make sure the area to be patched is prepared. One key factor for effective patching is drainage, Zurla said.

“If water is running across the road, nothing stays,” he said.

That’s why road crews attempt to keep drainage ditches clear, even in the winter.

Once the patching crews get to the site, they must make sure the holes are suitable to be patched, Zurla said. That means removing all loose material in and around the hole. Crews will sweep, shovel and even mill down the area around the pothole so there is a clean surface for the patch to adhere to.

Crews will then coat the pothole with a tack material, a tar and oil substance that helps the hot patch stick to the road surface.

Zurla explained that the tack can’t be used with cold patch, because the oil in it would only prolong the hardening process.

While deciding when to patch depends largely on the weather, determining where is based on both the usage of the road and the extent of the damage.

Zurla said those decisions are typically made by his four assistant managers, two in each county.

Main highways are usually given the highest priority, followed by secondary roads, Zurla said. That sequence can change, however, if there is extreme damage in some areas.

“We also factor in the size of the hole,” he said.

Around this time of the year, PennDOT receives a lot of calls from motorists reporting potholes.

“We filter all those calls through the assistant managers,” Zurla said.

PennDOT takes pothole patching seriously, Zurla said.

He noted that even though road crews have been working long hours on snow removal during the winter, they don’t get much of a break this time of year.

If the pothole problem is especially bad, he said crews will even be assigned to work Saturdays to catch up.