[JHeath]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...;ArticleID=9604

[quote]2/7/2008 10:03:00 AM
Potholes And Headaches
Extreme weather conditions play havoc with roadways, car tires.

Jason Miller
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - While many love the occasional breaks in the cold like those the area has seen in recent weeks, the respites from the chill wreak havoc on local roads and streets.

Jack Kahn, head of the Michigan City Street Department, said the department will use about six tons of "cold patch" to repair potholes that formed during the recent thaw.

In the past several weeks temperatures have risen dramatically then quickly dropped, re-freezing ground underneath streets and roads. The freezing and thawing cracks the pavement and causes potholes.

Some of them measure more than four inches deep and three feet long.

"For this time of year, this kind of thing is really unique," Kahn said Wednesday from Coolspring Avenue, where city crews planned to spend the majority of their day. "Usually we're doing this in mid-March after the thaw."

State roads were also taking the brunt of

the odd weather, as witnessed by large potholes outside Michigan City City Hall and near the intersections of Roeske and Carroll avenues, and Michigan Boulevard.

Two holes on Michigan Boulevard measured more than three inches deep and a foot or more at their longest point. The hole in front of city hall, at Michigan Boulevard and Pine Street, was more than four inches deep, nearly three feet wide and more than four feet long.

Joshua Bingham, public information officer with the La Porte District of the Indiana Department of Transportation, said the state had crews out patching on Wednesday. That included a stretch of Interstate 94 between Indiana 49 in Chesterton and Indiana 53 in Lake County. Traffic was backed up for miles on westbound I-94 while the holes were patched.

"The fluctuation in temperatures makes it pretty hectic for the roads," he said. "We've got crews plowing one week and patching the next. It's easy for them because they can easily switch from one to the other. But it does get hectic."

Bingham said the state offers drivers a chance to be reimbursed for any damages caused to vehicles by potholes - or any other issues - on state roads.

On the state's Web site, www.in.gov/dot, drivers can print a "notice of tort claim form" in which they can request reimbursement from the state.

Drivers have 270 days from the time of the damage to report the issue, and the state is required to respond within 90 days.

Michigan City doesn't offer such a plan, according to Mayor Chuck Oberlie, who said the driver would have to prove that the city knew about the pothole and didn't fix it.

"The presumption is that we can't know everything all the time," he said. "We'd like to think we're all trying to fix all of them, and we do try."
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So you hit a pothole?...
The state offers drivers a chance to be reimbursed for any damages caused to vehicles by potholes - or any other issues - on state roads. At www.in.gov/dot, drivers can print a "notice of tort claim form" in which they can seek reimbursement from the state. Drivers have 270 days from the time of the damage to report the issue.
[quote]

[ChickenCityRoller]

What Michigan City is dealing with is seemingly a bumper crop from 94. My gosh, it's awful on the highway. My folks were driving to Chicago two days ago and got on 90/94 by exit 22 (by the fireworks stores in Portage) going west. As soon as they got on the road in the granny lane, there were potholes EVERYWHERE! HUGE POTHOLES! They instantaniously got two flats and I had to go out there to rescue them, gave them my car and they were back on thier way. When they came back that night, there was a car flipped over on it's roof with people stuck inside. Those lanes are now closed. If anyone is trying to file with the state for damage done, here is a link, it's the first one on the page: http://ingov.chacha.com/search/query?rid=i...h=ChaCha+Search

Be careful out there!

[Southsider2k12]

The freeze thaw cycle is bad enough, but mix in all of the snow being melted into water, and all of the rain we have gotten this winter, and that gets into the cracks of the pavement and expands when it freezes, further pressing the asphalt apart, making it an easy target for plows to rip apart when they pass.

Its an ugly thing right now. I feel bad for those guys as they are in a no win situation.

[ChickenCityRoller]

The freeze thaw cycle is bad enough, but mix in all of the snow being melted into water, and all of the rain we have gotten this winter, and that gets into the cracks of the pavement and expands when it freezes, further pressing the asphalt apart, making it an easy target for plows to rip apart when they pass.

Its an ugly thing right now. I feel bad for those guys as they are in a no win situation.

Don't foget about semi's smashing the heaves which have started with 40,000 lbs loads bouncing around. Have you seen that strech of road over by mile marker 22? It looks like a mine field!!

[Southsider2k12]

Don't foget about semi's smashing the heaves which have started with 40,000 lbs loads bouncing around. Have you seen that strech of road over by mile marker 22? It looks like a mine field!!

I haven't gotten over that way, but walking downtown Chicago everyday, I know what the streets, and even some of the older sidewalks look like.

[mcstumper]

Don't foget about semi's smashing the heaves which have started with 40,000 lbs loads bouncing around. Have you seen that strech of road over by mile marker 22? It looks like a mine field!!

To add to the situation, it seems like the weigh station between Chesterton and Michigan City has been closed most of the winter...

[ChickenCityRoller]

To add to the situation, it seems like the weigh station between Chesterton and Michigan City has been closed most of the winter...

Yup, they had them out of the ground and rebuilt them. They're back in the ground but still aren't working. I'm sure the truckers are loving that!