Crews taking up-and-down temperatures into account when planning road work
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - With temperatures all over the place, it can wreak havoc on roads. As temperatures dip back near the freezing mark overnight, it's the perfect recipe for potholes.
According to PennDOT, sometimes these potholes are replaced but because of temperatures going up and down, they can quickly reform.
The same goes for Pittsburgh Public Works. They are into their milling and paving season, but Mother Nature sometimes throws them a curveball.
"We've already had some projects get a little delayed in that process," Pittsburgh spokesperson Maria Montano said.
The city says this weather is nothing new and something road crews expect. They plan to repair about 40 miles of roads this summer.
"The delays don't catch us by surprise. It's something that's planned into our work when we are thinking about how we are going to do the paving and the milling and the repairs," Montano said.
PennDOT said just like how you had to put the lawnmower away for the snowblower with some of this weather, they too have to dig out the plows when they hoped to put them away. This takes away from getting other needs addressed.
"Some of our operations are weather-sensitive so whether it's too cold or whether we're getting precipitation, we may not be able to perform some key operations until we get the right weather," PennDOT District 11 Assistant District Executive for Maintenance Lori Musto said.
Just like the city, they know to expect the unexpected. They also build in weather delays to their roadwork.
"We always like to accomplish the most we possibly can. We always consider it a delay but we do account for it when we are planning our work," Musto said.
PennDOT is still using cold patches to quickly fill holes along major arteries like the parkways. They say about now is when they do switch to more permanent fixes – and they expect to start those in the coming weeks.
"We need the temperatures to make the fix and we also need the asphalt plants to be producing the hot mix in order to make the fix," Musto said.
For the marathon runners this week, the city has spent the last couple weeks making sure the route is not full of hazards.
"To make sure that we're keeping the participants, runners, and everybody going out for the marathon this weekend safe," Montano said.
Both the city and PennDOT said if you see a pothole, report it so they can repair it as soon as possible.
