Kingsport crews put down 52 tons of asphalt in 27 working days to combat pothole development
KINGSPORT – Kingsport Streets and Sanitation crews have applied more than 52 tons of both “hot” and “cold” asphalt mix patches in the annual effort to combat developing potholes in the Model City, with the majority of patches applied by an automated patching vehicle that dramatically cuts manpower and patching time.
“Historically speaking, the first three months of the year are when you see most potholes develop,” Streets and Sanitation Manager Ronnie Hammonds said Friday. “The abundance of rain, snow and temperature fluctuations from mild to intense cold have been tough on the pavement.”
When not conducting snow removal or combating the effects of several intense rainfall events, Streets and Sanitation crews have been out in force patching potholes.
Three methods have been used. Front line on the battle against potholes is “Patch,” the automated patching machine which only requires a single worker to drive and deploy the system. Acquired a couple of years ago, the automated machine used high pressure air to blow loose debris from the pothole, then applies a mixture of hot liquid tar and 3/8 inch clean rock under high pressure.
In all, 992 potholes have been repaired in 2013 from January 1 to February 8.
Patch repaired 712 potholes. Another 280 pothole repairs were made through the use of three to five man crews using both “hot mix” and “cold mix” asphalt patches.
It takes about 3 minutes for an average pothole repair with Patch verses about 10 to 15 with the manual labor method.
By definition, a pothole can range anywhere from the depth of a saucer to much deeper pavement flaws.
“I would say the average pothole this season has been about a bart square and three inches deep,” Hammonds said. “This has been an especially tough January and February on asphalt, with the freeze thaw cycle and immense volumes of water contributing heavily to premature asphalt failure, but were hard at it patching as many as possible.”
Potholes are logged and reported by other Public Work crews who are out collecting garbage, trash and recyclable materials. If citizens wish to report a pothole for repair, they can call 229-9451 or log onto www.KingsportTn.gov, hover the cursor over I want to and click report a problem.