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Road Pave: 20,000 'Operation Pothole' Offenders Repaired Last Weekend
A pothole
(
Deborah Fitchett
/
Flickr
)
Last weekend's Operation Pothole, an effort to fill 20,000 potholes around Los Angeles, was the largest to date, says Board Commissioner Andrea Alarcón, according to the LA Times. The fight against "asphalt atrophy," was carried out on Saturday and Sunday by an estimated 150 employees and 75 trucks that dispatched to neighborhoods across the city.
They cleaned a...rectangle around the offending divots, applied a special glue, dropped asphalt from the back of their truck, raked it over and used a vibrating plate to pack it down. Another layer of glue, and they were done.
Intense rain, higher in nearly "every measured section of Southern California from July 1, 2010, to June 4, 2011," is partially to blame for the road deterioration after widespread neglect due to what the mayor called ""decades of historical underfunding."
Officials said though it is difficult to monitor existing potholes and predict future breakups, the city on average repairs and estimated 250,000 per year. Funds to fix 300,000 potholes are included in next year's budget. The city is also reportedly studying and testing "new oils and additives to help make the asphalt less brittle."
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