News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Cookeville Public Works has a patch truck roaming city streets to seek out and repair potholes.
Public Works Director Blake Mayo said potholes are a problem the city tends to year-round, but especially during the winter. Snow plows combined with freezing temperatures lead to more potholes. He said the city repairs potholes starting with the ones that pose the greatest threat to driver safety.
“Anything that’s directly in the wheel path that can cause damage or somebody would have to swerve to avoid, we try to go after those first, and also mindful of, even though it’s wintertime, there are still motorcycles out there too,” Mayo said. “Some even that are deemed smaller for cars can be quite treacherous to a motorcycle.”
Mayo said reports from the public are the primary ways the city learns of a new pothole. He said people can call the public works department or file a report under the “Report a Problem” tab on the city of Cookeville’s website.
“Between a utility patching and then also just with the natural potholes coming up from the degradation of the asphalt, it’s just a constant issue,” Mayo said.
He said during the winter, the department uses a cold mix to patch the holes. The patch truck heats the mix to some 150 degrees, and workers spread the mix over the affected area. He said this is a temporary measure used to mitigate the issue until the asphalt plant is up and running in the spring.
“Older roads would be key, especially where they have the situation that we call alligator cracking,” Mayo said. “Things like that will also seem to produce a pothole. Around really busy intersections, they’ll pop up around asphalt seams and things like that. Mostly it’s older asphalt and areas of really high traffic.”
Mayo said potholes are most often caused by water collecting beneath the surface of the road and expanding. He said utility leaks in pipes beneath a street can cause moisture in the rock and soil subgrade beneath the road that eventually creates a crack on the surface of the street.
“Knock on wood, I have not heard of any new major ones,” Mayo said. “There are probably several small ones. I’ve noticed a handful myself out driving around and we’re keeping up with those in-house as Public Works drives around, and then also public call-ins from citizens.”
