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Coping with the Freeze-Thaw: Potholes in #ottcity
Hi my name is Kevin Wylie, I'm the Manager of Roads and Traffic Operations and I'm
Hi my name is Kevin Wylie, I’m the Manager of Roads and Traffic Operations and I’m
here to talk about potholes. Potholes occur in the winter when we get our freeze-thaw
cycles, and these winters we've been having lately we've been getting alot of that kind
of weather. What happens is during the thaw the water gets down in the crevices of the
pavement and of course with a deep freeze it expands and it starts to pop out the asphalt.
Then of course on our arterial roads where we have alot of vehicle traffic the more vehicles
that go over the start of a pothole the bigger it gets, and that's when we have to get
our crews out to start filling them. So when the crews are out patching potholes
the routine when its good dry weather is they come up to a pothole with their traffic plan
in place, they're blocking traffic so they're safe, they'll fill the pothole with hot
asphalt and then tamp it down with some pressure, and that will make a good bond with the pavement.
My name is Denis Frederick, I'm the crew leader on the asphalt crew for the City of
Ottawa, Hurdman Yard, and this is the crew here, we're filling potholes on a daily
basis. The hot asphalt is a hot mixture, it glues and stays in the hole longer. We try
to keep going because we've got lots to do.
The crews these days are using hot asphalt and it comes directly from the asphalt facility
which is something we've only been doing for the past four or five years. Traditionally
the asphalt facilities would close in the fall and open in the spring during the construction
season and we had to use cold asphalt which doesn't make as good of a bond. Hot asphalt
is good in terms of bonding with the pavement and it makes a much more permanent patch so
we don't have to go back and refill the pothole after we've done it.
Its really helpful if residents can report potholes as they see them, and you can do
that either by going on the web at Ottawa.ca and filling out a web form or calling 3-1-1
and reporting the location of the pothole.