Officials: Pothole truck puts city in driver's seat for patching pavement

Cape Girardeau city officials believe a new pothole-patching truck puts them in the driver's seat when it comes to paving over pitted streets.

They also hope it will smooth over plentiful complaints of motorists who have endured bone-jarring rides over potholed pavement.

Mayor Bob Fox said council members regularly receive complaints from their constituents about troublesome potholes.

The new pothole patcher, he said, "will revolutionize the way they (public works crews) fix the potholes."

He called it a "big deal" and "big investment."

Fox said it is a "wise expenditure" of money from the city's casino revenue.

Andrew Stone with the city's public works department said the city spent $222,000 to purchase the white and orange truck.

The city received the truck Tuesday.

Stone, traffic operations manager for public works, showed off the truck Thursday.

It's a one-man operation now when it comes to fixing potholes, and the new spray-injection system will provide a better patch than the old cold-mix method, he said.

Where cold-mix asphalt patches often break apart within weeks or months, the new pavement patch could last years, he said.

Stone said, as far as he knows, Cape Girardeau has the only such pothole-patching truck in the area. "In our area, we are ahead of the curve," he said.

Potholes now can be filled by the truck driver, who controls everything from inside the cab.

It's more efficient and it is safer than having city workers in the roadway while traffic is rolling by, Stone said.

Unlike traditional asphalt paving, which involves putting down a heated mixture of asphalt and aggregate, the pothole-patching truck injects asphalt emulsion and rock separately.

The truck features a mechanical arm that can be extended out in front of the truck wherever there is a pothole to be filled.

A hose blows air into the damaged pavement to clean out the debris. Then hot oil, carried in a heated container on the truck, is dispensed into the hole, followed by rock, which is carried in a separate compartment.

The oil is heated to more than 100 degrees before being placed in the hole. The high temperature allows it to stick better to the rock, Stone said.

The material is then tamped down to provide a smooth seal.

According to Stone, the equipment allows a single pothole to be patched in as little as five minutes, and with less manpower than with the cold-mix system.

Typically, the task of patching potholes in Cape Girardeau involves three, two-man crews.

The new pothole truck frees up five employees to handle other public works tasks. "It's a better use of resources," Stone said.

He estimated the city will be able to invest 1,120 man-hours a year into patching potholes with the new equipment compared to 3,500 man-hours under the old system.

Since the pavement patches will last longer, city crews will not have to constantly repair the same holes, Stone said.

The truck will be used about six months out of the year, according to Stone.

That's because the asphalt plant is not open during the winter months, he said.

Stone said the city hopes to begin using the patching truck in March or April.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641