Hot temps causing roads to buckle in Corridor

IOWA CITY - June's extreme heat is getting the best of some Iowa City streets.

Jon Resler, city superintendent, said crews are working on three areas where heat has caused roads to buckle - Rochester Avenue, Melrose Avenue and Mormon Trek Boulevard. Resler said in his three years with the city, he usually only sees one or two of these cases each year and veteran staff members told him this year's buckling is occurring at a higher rate than normal.

'This is definitely more than I've seen since I've been here,” Resler said. 'It's certainly a challenge but so far we're managing it.”

Concrete contracts in cold temperatures and expands in the heat, Resler explained. Engineers place joints in the concrete to account for this movement but when an area sees excessive heat, concrete can expand too much and crack or push upward to create buckling, he said.

The most dangerous instances of this buckling usually occur on interstates when sections of concrete are pushed up 6 to 12 inches and cars run over them at 70 mph. Resler said in Iowa City's case, most deflections are only 2 or 3 inches high and cars drive over them at much lower speeds. Even so, problem areas are being marked by cones and repairs are starting as soon as possible.

The city is scheduled to complete work on Mormon Trek Boulevard, where southbound traffic is reduced to one lane just north of Hawkeye Park Road, on July 1. Traffic is also down to one lane on the eastbound portion of Melrose Avenue at the northbound U.S. 218 offramp until work is complete on June 27. Construction is to continue on the westbound lane and turn lane of Rochester Avenue, just east of Scott Boulevard, until July 1.

Resler said the most difficult part of handling heat buckling cases is that they often happen without warning so it's difficult to tell the public to find other routes. He did say that the city is monitoring areas like a sidewalk on Shannon Drive and part of the road on Scott Boulevard because they are showing signs of stress.

'Don't know where it's going to happen or when it's going to happen,” Resler said. 'It's a problem with concrete. It's difficult to predict.”

Eric Fischer, streets and solid waste superintendent in Coralville, said officials there have not seen many cases of heat buckling this summer. He said some cases of buckling sidewalks have been discovered and officials expect a few streets to give way as summer moves on.

In Cedar Rapids, road buckling has also taken place, said Mike Duffy, the city's street superintendent. He said two cases have occurred on Wright Brothers Boulevard and two minor instances on 33 Avenue SW needed some asphalt patching.

Cedar Rapids officials expect about a dozen areas of heat buckling each year but the city is 'aggressive” at preventing them by keeping the concrete joints clean and sealed, Duffy said.