Let's get ready to rrrumble...
SUSSEX - The annual spring rumble between Mother Nature and vehicles is on again and this year Mother Nature is wearing brass knuckles.
It's pothole season again and they're taking over the tarmac in a full-scale invasion.
Frank Hayes, service manager of Norrad Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ltd., said the number of pothole casualties coming in for service this spring has at least doubled.
"The number one thing is tie rod ends. Then shocks and bent wheels, sway bar bushings, ball joints, tires, struts... It's worse this year, terrible," he said, noting these types of repairs can set vehicle owners back $150-$300.
Drivers should listen for clunking and rattling sounds coming from the front end of a vehicle as signs of pothole damage.
"It's hard on exhaust systems too, and it's awful hard on tires," Hayes said. "Once you hit a pothole, it can knock them out of alignment, so keep an eye on tire wear."
Potholes form when part of the road surface wears or breaks away. In pavement, fatigue cracks typically form in a chunking pattern. Water accumulating and freezing in these cracks widens them and chunks of pavement work loose and may get picked out of the surface as wheels pass over them. Hard-driving rain washes more pieces out of the holes and cracks, creating more stress on surrounding pavement as the crackling and erosion pattern continues and a sizable pothole is formed.
Amateur meteorologist Art Goold of Sussex tracks local temperatures and precipitation. He checked his records to see what's behind this year's bumper crop of potholes.
"In February, there were 12 days out of 29 with above-zero temperatures," he said, noting the average minimum temperature for that month was minus 11 degrees Celsius. February brought 91 mm of rain and 55 cm of snow.
While temperature fluctuations and rain in February laid the seeds of pothole formation, things really took off in March. Looking at his data up to March 19, Goold found there were only five days that month when the temperature went below zero and the average minimum temperature was minus eight degrees Celsius.
Those 19 days came with 54 mm of rain and 62 cm of snow. With the ground under the pavement thawed and saturated much of the time when freezing temperatures did come, trouble swelled up and burst to the surface in the form of potholes.
The state of the roads and the prevalence of potholes in town was a topic of discussion at both the February and March Sussex town council meetings.
"The whole province is having a problem with potholes," councillor Kevin Black said at the March 17 meeting. "We are trying to fill the potholes as quickly as possible. Cold patch doesn't stay in as long as we wish.
"As soon as the frost is out we will be aggressively filling potholes with asphalt."
The pothole situation is deteriorating to the point that the town may resort to deploying works crews after hours and paying them overtime to fill potholes, he continued, urging citizens be patient as town works crews tackle the challenge.
He said it may even come to buying asphalt from wherever it is available if the local supplier, Brown's Paving, is unable to meet the demand.
Wally Brown, owner/manager of Brown's Paving Ltd., isn't worried yet about running out of materials or needing more than the usual crew of two dozen workers he employs during the upcoming busy season.
Brown's Paving works mainly within a 30 to 40-mile radius of Sussex Corner and Sussex but also goes to Hampton, Petitcodiac and Young's Cove.
While the worst potholes may get temporary cold patches, the real patching work won't begin until about the first of May.
"You've got to wait ‘til the frost is all out. If you don't, when you lay the stuff in it just breaks out again," said Brown.
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