newjerseynewsroom.com

Thanks to a mild winter, state Department of Transportation highway maintenance crews are finding fewer potholes to fill this spring.

The NJDOT nearly 500 maintenance workers fill potholes year-round, but spring is traditionally the busy time of year for them because fluctuating temperatures above and below the freezing mark help produce potholes. The mild winter, however, along with investments in roadway rehabilitation and specific maintenance efforts aimed at preserving roads, have reduced this year’s pothole crop.

Crews have filled approximately 81,000 potholes between July 1 and March 30. In comparison, crews filled about 108,000 in the same nine-month period in 2010-11. During period between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011, crews filled over 152,000 potholes.

Potholes can create safety hazards and can cause damage to vehicles, so motorists are urged to report any pothole they observe on a state or interstate highway to NJDOT.

Among the factors contributing to fewer potholes this spring is major roadway rehabilitation investments in recent years on such heavily traveled roads as Routes 295, 78 and 80. Maintenance work to seal cracks has also helped extend the life of roads by preventing water from seeping into pavement, where it can cause damage that eventually leads to potholes.

The NJDOT is also seeing the benefits of permanent patch operations that are more time-consuming than throw-and-go patch methods, but produce a much longer-lasting repair. The technique involves cutting straight borders around the entire affected section, removing several inches of the old road surface, painting the edges with liquid tar and filling with hot patch before tamping or rolling.

Additionally, the NJDOT leased six pothole-filling machines that have been in use since December. The machines create a longer-lasting patch than can be obtained with the type of asphalt patch material that is available during cold-weather months.

The reduced demands on maintenance crews to fill potholes allows workers to turn to other tasks, such as picking up litter, painting over graffiti, fixing damaged guide rail, mowing, and cleaning storm-water inlets.

A pothole reporting form is available online at: www.nj.gov/transportation.

—TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM