Freshly patched potholes in the intersection by Rasmuson Hall and the Student Union. Photo by Kaitlyn Gaub.
As the Anchorage breakup season comes into full swing, UAA Maintenance and Grounds and the Facilities team are tasked with maintaining the roads and parking lots on campus.
In an interview with Grounds and Landscaping, Supervisor Kara Monroe said, “We’re always looking out for [potholes], trying to be proactive, but they can pop up overnight sometimes.”
The Grounds team is aware of the annoyance faced by UAA students and staff, but they are dedicated to filling potholes in a timely manner. Monroe said, “If we get a report we try to get it done that day or by the next day because we know it’s a safety issue, can tear up cars … and that [cold patching] is the quickest way to do it.”
In describing the method her team uses, Monroe said, “There’s hot fill and then cold patching. Hot fill would be like the municipal trucks that you see driving around, or the contractors who have the heated material in the back of their trucks, and they shovel that in. It’s a bit more of an involved and expensive process, and ideally you’re working on dry pavement. It’s not something you see done commonly in the winter. Cold patch … comes in bags and you use it at low temperatures.”
“This time of year we have to watch the weather, so we don't want those potholes full of ice, so we tend to have to wait until they're melted out a bit, so the afternoon hours are really the best time. And depending on where they are, we have to watch traffic. You know, the afternoon may be the best time to get a pothole, but the afternoon in the middle of West Campus Drive is not necessarily the ideal or the safest time for my staff to stand in the middle of the road,” Monroe said.
The cold patching method — considering time, cost and equipment efficiency — is not a long term solution. Monroe said, “It would be considered a temporary fill. It goes in there permanently but it doesn't hold up as well as remediating the entire piece of asphalt, so coming in, cutting out clear edges, redoing the foundation, so the gravel and sand base that’s underneath the asphalt, and then adding in a hot pack on top of that. So, what we do is not up to that level, we don't have the trucks here, the equipment, it would be handled by a contractor. So, really, it’s the best and quickest way for us to fill it.”
“We do have a contract right now that is active, where we can go and identify really bad problem areas and have those areas taken out and fixed for the more permanent solution. They can do crack sealing … and that contract also includes re-striping of the parking lot … so we have to balance out the available funding with those three items … having that [contract] already negotiated allows us to have a quicker maintenance result,” Monroe said.
In addition to new potholes, breakup season can be dangerous with black ice and other safety hazards. Monroe said, “I would still be careful when you're walking around, because all of that gravel that we put down, that provides that really nice traction in the winter time, it becomes like little marbles on the ground. So it can still present a bit of a trip hazard, or a slip hazard. As soon as the weather cooperates we’ll have sweepers coming through to pick up that bulk. We’ll be doing detailing all the way up until probably June … We’ve got dust to contend with as well. So, when we’re cleaning up we are always trying to be cognizant of not breaking any rules in terms of air quality.”
If you notice a pothole on campus — or any other urgent maintenance issue — contact the Facilities work management office at (907) 786-6980.
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