Statewide Iowa – Iowa roads that were knee-deep in snow and ice just a matter of days ago are quickly becoming moonscapes, as fender-rattling potholes are suddenly making our streets and highways a challenging obstacle course. Bob Ellis, the Iowa Department of Transportation’s District 1 maintenance manager, says DOT crews are fanned out across the state, filling in those car-jarring craters as fast as they find them.
Those springtime fixes are done with what’s known as a HMA or hot mix asphalt — and with concrete. Ellis was asked to characterize the current condition of Iowa’s roads.
Some DOT officials can spout a litany of figures during the wintertime as to the hundreds of tons of salt and thousands of gallons of brine being spread on our roads, so a natural question to Ellis is, how many potholes do they fill in a week, a month or a year?
Hitting a large pothole at high speed may jar something loose in your molars as well as in your car’s suspension. If you can’t avoid one of the concrete chasms, Ellis was asked if there’s a proper procedure for going through a pothole.
You can also report potholes on the interstates, Iowa numbered routes, and U.S. highways to the Iowa DOT’s maintenance manager located nearest the problem roadway.
Find a list of contacts at: https://iowadot.gov/districts/District-contacts
