Drivers may have noticed a bumpier ride in some places recently. The summer heat is taking its toll on area roads. An ODOT spokeswoman says you can blame Mother Nature.
District 8’s Kathleen Fuller says asphalt will expand in hot weather, and if the heat lasts, it will push up, creating a little ridge.
“This summer has been so hot, and in long stretches,” she says. “It happens. It’s kind of like potholes. You don’t always know when you’re going to get a pothole. You know kind of what’s going to cause it, but you don’t know when.”
She says the fix is relatively simple.
“Our crews will grind the pavement back down, and depending on how big it is, sometimes they can cut it back out and do what’s called a slot paving,” she says. “Basically, it connects it back. It’s just paving in between that, getting that buckle out, they can dig it out and repave.”
Fuller says the quality of the repair may be intense, or a little more temporary.
“If we’re not going to be resurfacing it for several years, then they might want to do a much bigger repair, which is to cut out the damaged section and replace it with new asphalt.”
She says that depends on how much has buckled and the next scheduled resurfacing.
Fuller says concrete can handle the heat better, but projects using it take longer.
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