Six street repairs crews are fixing 60 to 70 potholes per day. The city aims to to respond to the reports within 24 hours. Ken Donaldson, superintendent of transportation operations for the city of Topeka, encourages residents to use the hotline. Potholes are an act of nature. Moisture falls into the cracks in pavement and freezes and expands the crack.
Traffic pounds the pavement and breaks down the asphalt or concrete.
It didn't take long for the constant freezing and thawing to create some fairly large holes. To make winter-time repairs, street crews use a special mixture that works in cold temperatures, but is a lower grade than a summer mix. The city uses a semi-permanent repair method. Crews remove water and debris from the pothole, then square up the sides of the patch area. Once all sides of the hole are squared off, they place the mix in the hole.