Maintenance crews for Kansas City are out in force this week repairing damages created by the change in weather.
Potholes
In the first two weeks of January, 2,084 potholes were filled (none were filled in the third week because of snow). That's compared to the entire month of December in 2015, when 3,000 potholes were filled.
"No one has found a way to make a pothole-free road yet," says Sean Demory with KCMO Public Works.
Public Works is capable of dispatching 12 crews that can handle 100 potholes per day if necessary. Most crews work with a two-ton fill of asphalt.
During winter months, the majority of pothole repair in KCMO is a temporary solution. Public works will revisit those repairs in the spring with a more permanent fix of hot mix asphalt. If applied in the winter, that mix would crack.
The city takes 311 calls and relies on police officers and firefighters to find the potholes.
Water mains
KCMO Water Services says water mains can break for many reasons including ground shifts caused by thawing, old pipes or a combination of other issues. The following numbers provided by the city do not give a cause of the pipes breaking.
- 62 new water main breaks in Kansas City, Mo., through Jan. 24 (2.6 per day average).
- 117 main breaks is a traditional average for January in the city.
At the current rate, KCMO will experience roughly 80 new work orders for water main breaks in January. That is 32 percent below average, according to Kansas City Water Services spokeswoman Brooke Givens.
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Brian Abel can be reached at brian.abel@kshb.com.
