Beware Of The Holes And Heaves!

By Steve Bigham

An assortment of pot holes, sink holes, and frost heaves litter Newtown roadways like never before these days. The highway department is doing its part to alleviate the problem, but it appears to be out of control right now.

Big swings in temperature this past month have created a situation of uneven thawing and re-freezing. This wreaks havoc on roads, which can easily be effected by a settling of the soil.

“We’ve had huge variations in temperatures this year. We’ve gone from very cold temperatures to very warm temperatures in a matter of hours,” Public Works Director Fred Hurley explained.

Older roads like Huntingtown Road are in the worst shape as portions of those roads have literally collapsed. Potholes are like land mines and frost heaves are a bit like reverse speed bumps. No doubt they serve to slow traffic and cause alignment problems for cars.

“That’s why you try to put so much under drain, in to keep the moisture from getting underneath the road,” Mr Hurley said.

On newer roads, the constant thawing and re-freezing has caused settling issues around catch basins, which have either risen above the road surface or submerged below it. Joints in the roadways have also split due to the unstable temperatures.

“Once the frost is gone, they should settle,” Mr Hurley said.

It looks like it’s going to be a very busy spring for the highway department.