Potholes Bloom As Snow Melts, But DPWCrews Busy

Potholes, those springtime crevasses in roads that blow tires, bend motor vehicle alignments, twist pedestrians' ankles and give new meaning to yielding the right of way.

They are back.

As winter wanes and snow and ice disappear, local highways, roads and streets are again fully visible. They are also again showing the signs of wear and tear from the cold season. Cracks and holes of varying dimensions are showing up all over Ogdensburg and so begins a busy time for Public Works Director Kit W. Smith and his road crews out to fill the gaping holes with asphalt.

Motorists be careful, he said Monday.

"The city of Ogdensburg public works department is asking that our traveling public be aware of potholes, as this is the time of year they form," Mr. Smith said. "We currently have two crews out most days as we try to keep up with the maintenance of 107 lane miles of city streets."

The occurrence of potholes, according to Mr. Smith, is weather-related.

"This certainly is the time of year we notice them more as the road is still brittle with frost and freeze thaw cycles are more evident than any other time of the year," he said. "Potholes form because the asphalt road surface eventually cracks under the heat of the day and the constant stresses of traffic. These cracks allow snow and rainwater to seep into the underlying dirt and gravel and in many places, within the city bricks. During the cold nights when the temperature falls below freezing it causes the water to freeze and expand. Some of the dirt and gravel is pushed out as a result, something like soda freezing in a can and leaving a hole when the water eventually melts."

Roads are not the only victims of potholes. While they are getting filled, many motorists are bringing their vehicles to area garages to repair the damage caused by run-ins with the miniature craters.

Blown tires. Bent wheel rims. Alignments out of whack. They cause a predictable spike in business for mechanics this time of years.

"We get a lot of bent rims," said Stephen J. Rishe, owner of Rishe's Auto Sales Service and Body Shop, 1111 Paterson St., Ogdensburg.

Mr. Rishe said that while the suspension of a motor vehicle is its "toughest part," it is often no match for a deep pothole.

"A pothole three inches deep can throw off the alignment," he said, separating his thumb and forefinger to illustrate the deceptively damaging gap.

Down the street at Bill's Tire Center, 1000 Paterson St., owner William Vielhauer said blown tires and bent rims are the most common results of pothole impact.

And it is usually delivered with a one-two punch.

"If you hit a bad pothole, you're going to blow both of them," Mr. Vielhauer said.