Area roads 'blow up' as temperatures rise

Rising temperatures may create hazards for motorists as roads “blow up,” a Cedar Rapids official said Thursday.

Craig Hansen, the city's public works maintenance manager, said that road section blowups are common each summer, especially when air temperatures hit the upper 80s and low 90s.

Intense heat causes road materials, including underground pipes, to expand and change shape – “just like metal,” causing the blowups, Hansen said.

On one particularly hot day a few weeks ago, Hansen said an eight-foot-wide section of an ally south of 16th Avenue SW blew. On Wednesday, part of Oakland Road NE was sectioned off after a blowup.

“It can happen at any time, but they generally happen in the late afternoon, usually about 4 or 5 p.m., when pavement temperatures are at their hottest,” Hansen said. On some days, he said, road temperatures can reach 130 or 140 degrees.

Hansen said concrete roads are more prone to blowups than those made of asphalt.

He estimated that the city spends between $5,000 and $25,000 each summer fixing blowups.