Bend street crews out on pothole patrol

As the snow and ice has melted from the last few snowstorms, the city of Bend Streets and Operation Department has been working hard to patch the potholes that have been popping up.

David Abbas, the department’s director, said Friday, “Once that moisture begins to get down into the cracks and into the roadways, and then there’s that freeze-thaw expansion, and it breaks apart the asphalt.”

Abbas was out Friday with his crew working to fix the potholes, even though normally fixing a pothole is only a two-man job.

However, they do what they can to ensure they can temporarily fix the potholes, and get traffic moving again.

Abbas says this is only a temporary fix, because this time of year, the hot-mix asphalt plants are not open, so it’s more of a cold mix, meaning a vehicle creates a hot bond and connection with the asphalt. After warming it up, they use a bonding oil to patch it up and compact the asphalt.

“These potholes are an example of a result where with good street preservation methods, sealing roads and keeping them in good shape and not allowing them to get alligator-cracked and a lot of that moisture to get in there, helps prevent potholes that we’re dealing with,” Abbas said.

If anyone spots any potholes that need fixing, they can report them to the Bend Public Works Department at 541-388-5540.