WINNIPEG – You may think the potholes dotting Winnipeg streets are bad — but officials say they will likely get worse.
“There is the anticipation this may be one of the worst springs that we will receive because of the amount of frost in the soil,” said Jim Berezowsky, Winnipeg’s manager of streets maintenance.
He said 10 to 12 crews are working on temporarily patching potholes with cold mix.
The work is being done seven days a week since the beginning of February.
“You start with deteriorated and old pavement, water seeps through the cracks in the pavement and eventually freezes up,” said Ahmed Shalaby, head of the department of civil engineering at the University of Manitoba. “When it freezes, it expands and enlarges those cracks. With time and traffic loads pounding on the surface of the pavement, some portions of the pavement gets dislodged and dislocated and you end up with the pothole.”
The warmer weather is also partly to blame.
“As those freeze/thaw cycles increase, so will the situation with the potholes,” said Berezowsky, who added the older a road surface is, the more susceptible it is to developing potholes.
Autobody shops have already started to see vehicles damaged by potholes.
Manitoba Public Insurance said there are typically 1,000 pothole-related claims a year. The majority are filed in the spring.
The average cost of the claim is $3,000, but drivers just have to pay their deductible.
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