The Glasgow DPW repairs a pothole along Broadway Street in Glasgow Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. The city said potholes form after asphalt undergoes periods of freezing and thawing.
(BRENNAN CRAIN/WCLU NEWS)
GLASGOW — Many Glasgow drivers may have noticed an uptick in the number of potholes along city roadways in recent weeks. The culprit? Winter weather.
Roger Simmons, the superintendent of Glasgow Department of Public Works, said pavement is susceptible to waves of freezing and thawing. Eventually, potholes and cracks form in those roads.
“As we have freezing and thawing the asphalt expands and contracts, and it creates looseness in it that will develop a hole,” Simmons said.
It all begins when moisture seeps into asphalt pavement. Pockets of moisture freeze when temperatures drop, and they thaw when those temperatures rise. Continual freezing and thawing weaknesses the asphalt until holes form.
Johnny Russell, a crewmember with Glasgow Department of Public Works, patched a hole Tuesday along Broadway Street. He cleared debris, filled the hole and torched it with a bright flame. The process can be completed in little time.
“Basically, the guys will go up and they’ll clean out the hole. We have an asphalt mix that we will heat with a torch,” Simmons said. “And we’ll basically place it in a hole and use a compaction tool with a compacted in to make it backflush to the road.”
Simmons said 10 to 12 potholes have been filled within the last month.
All streets within Glasgow’s city limits are not all maintained by city road crews, however. Certain agreements place the responsibility of certain streets in the hands of state road crews.
“Within those zones are state highways,” Simmons said. “The agreement with the city is that the state maintains their roadways, and the city maintains city streets that have been accepted into the city street maintenance system.”
Some state-maintained roadways in Glasgow include Columbia Avenue, East and West Main, South Green and North Race Streets, Rogers Wells Boulevard and the Square.
The DPW maintains sanitation, transportation, road maintenance and lawncare efforts within four zones. A part of the maintenance is snow and ice removal. The city bolsters a four-plow fleet to clear snow in those zones.
Each plow is equipped with a guard on the blade to prevent further harm to asphalt surfaces.
“There would be some instances where we may have a high spot that the plow would take the top off or something, but it’s kind of rare,” Simmons said.
Report potholes to the Glasgow DPW at (270) 651-5977.
