Pothole season underway early

Freeze-thaw cycles have kept city crews busy since beginning of year

If you think you are seeing road maintenance crews out earlier this year plugging potholes across the city, you’re on track.

Thanks to warmer than normal winter temperatures, crews have been filling potholes on Edmonton’s streets since the first week of January, director of infrastructure maintenance Eduardo Sosa said.

In an average year, the city fills around 480,000 potholes of varying sizes and depths. About $70 million is budgeted annually for pavement repairs that include potholes but also preventive maintenance, like sealing of cracks, micro-surfacing and restoration.

Last year the city filled 669,940 potholes, up substantially from previous years.

In 2016, that number was around 521,000, the year before it was 551,000 and in 2014, it was almost bang on the average at 485,000.

In 2013, however, that number peaked at 750,000 potholes.

In the first month of this year, crews have filled just under 5,000 potholes.

“In the past two winters we’ve had less snow and warmer temperatures ... prolonging more of those periods where the road was exposed to freeze-thaw cycles,” Sosa said.

Those freeze-thaw cycles are at the heart of pothole problems.

Potholes are typically created when moisture seeps into the cracks of the pavement and then expands when it freezes, like when you leave a water bottle in a vehicle overnight.

When the water expands, it weakens the structure of the road surface. Temperatures warm up, the water evaporates and a hole is formed while the constant aggravation of vehicle tires causes those cavities to expand.

Pothole maintenance, Sosa said, is prioritized based on severity, location and volume traffic, with a bulk of reports coming in via the city’s 311 app or a city-specific online pothole reporting tool.

On average, there are 643 pothole claims made each year by drivers who say they have damaged their vehicle by hitting a pothole. Over the past nine years, the city has paid 16 per cent of claims. The average payout claim was $769.

So far this year, there has been at least 445 inquiries to 311 about potholes, with 107 of them coming through the online Report a Pothole program on the city ’s website.

Some of those are duplicates, with multiple people reporting the same pothole.

ED KAISER A pothole crew takes advantage of the weather to fills in pot holes on Kingsway Ave. and 121 Street earlier this month. The city fills almost 500,000 pot holes each year.