Do you recall the last time you drove on an Indianapolis road without having to veer off to avoid a pothole in the road? You can drive to work or to the store without making comments to yourself or to a passenger about the size of a pothole. Perhaps you thought it was more of an acrater than a hole (I know that I have).
Indiana has a problem with potholes
A Recent studiesQuoteWizard is a site that sells Lending Tree insurance. It looked at pothole-related web searches and repair inquiries. It found that Indiana was ranked second in the country for the worst road craters.
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Potholes may be viewed as an infrastructure issue, rather than an environmental problem. In Indianapolis, potholes are a result of poor infrastructure, which is compounded by tight budgets and stretched staffing. Mayor Hogsett has been adamant that the Department of Public Works has been responsible for this problem. Street maintenance crews can be granted overtimeTo fill potholes in the city this spring.
All of this said, environmental factors play an important role, perhaps more than you think. This intersection is what we will be examining for this weeks Scrub Hub.
We will be asking the following questions: How does climate-change impact potholes? Are pothole problems getting worse because of climate change?
We spoke to someone from the city’s Public Works department to find out the answers.
The short answer is: Cracks, potholes, craters
To understand how climate changes may be impacting potholes it is important to first understand what causes them. It is not just a matter of old roads bursting. It’s actually the result of the weather.
Roads can feel stiffer in winter than our bodies, and roads are no different. Asphalt becomes less flexible as temperatures drop, making it more vulnerable to cracks.
When moisture freezes and gets into cracks, it expands. It contracts when temperatures rise and the ice melts.
The freeze-thaw cycle keeps on going, making cracks larger and creating pockets in asphalt. It doesn’t take long for the asphalt to crack when a nearly 2-ton car drives over it. As they drive over it, other cars scatter the rubble and erode the edges. Thus, a pothole is formed.
Both asphalt and concrete roads can have potholes. Concrete roads are more durable and more resistant to wear and tear, while asphalt is more vulnerable to the conditions that can cause potholes. According to Ben Easley (DPW spokesman), asphalt is the most common type of road in Marion County.
He said that it is the freezing temperatures that fluctuate between over and below freezing in one day that really devastates the streets.
According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Indianapolis has experienced at least 36 days in which temperatures have fluctuated between 32 and 33 degrees Fahrenheit within a 24-hour period since December 2021. This is nearly 25% of the city’s winter days that could cause problems.
Long answer: Climate Change will make things worse
The winters in Indianapolis and throughout Indiana were marked by temperatures that dropped below freezing, but stayed there or hovered just below it. Easley said those were the good days.
The consistent colder days are becoming less frequent as the effects of climate changes are felt throughout the country and here in Indiana.
Research suggests that pothole problems in the Midwestern cities will increase due to climate change over the next few years. The areas with the highest frequency of freeze-thaw cycles are Missouri and other states. However, those cycles are moving north so they will be less frequent.
According to studies by the Purdue Climate Change Research Center, Indiana is experiencing climate change. Temperature fluctuations are more extremeThere are now fewer very cold days than in decades past, and this trend is only expected increase by midcentury. Climate change is also causing more precipitation, particularly in winters that are wetter and have more rain than snow.
This weather can be either right or wrong when it comes to creating potholes.
Easley said that potholes are more common than they used to be. The streets are being undermined by the freeze-thaw cycle, which is accompanied by additional precipitation.
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DPW has so far achieved a total of 78,050 employees in this year’s fiscal year. More than 169,000 potholes were filled in Indianapolis. Easley reports that there were more than 27,000 requests to fix potholes in 2022.
It’s difficult to draw conclusions on whether climate change is making it more difficult to request potholes. However, the reporting system is only a few year old and therefore cannot show long-term trends. It also counts the number or requests received, rather than the number and severity of the potholes reported.
DPW acknowledges that climate and road conditions are interconnected, but stresses that they are not climatologists.
A 2017 report from U.S. Department of TransportationThese predictions are supported by the fact that increases in winter air temperatures will likely influence freeze-thaw cycles as well as road infrastructure. It also said that areas with higher temperatures than freezing may need weight restrictions to be adjusted or extended.
These problems are not unique to Indianapolis. These problems are also being experienced in Kansas City, Boston, and other cities.
What can we do to prevent pothole problems from getting worse, especially since they are expected to get worse?
The city constantly assesses the needs of its roads to determine if it can fill a hole temporarily or if it needs more extensive work. In Indianapolis, which is a middle ground, has done more strip-patching over the past five years. This is where it will lay a new pavement along an extended section road with major problems.
Easley explained that DPW also works to improve the base layer for regularly-travelled roads, when they are torn up to make way for larger construction projects.
Concrete is more resilient to potholes but it’s also more expensive, and many cities don’t have the budget to cover all their streets this way.
Many of Indianapolis’ engineers are listening and keeping their fingers crossed for new technologies that will keep streets clean and free from caterers. Concrete that can heal itself? It may not be so farfetched after all.
Let us know if you have any questions about climate or infrastructure. You can send us questions through our Google form.
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Sarah Bowman, IndyStar reporter at 317-44-6129 or email at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter Facebook: @IndyStarSarah. Connect with IndyStars environmental journalists:Join Facebook’s Scrub.
IndyStar is made possible by the generous support of Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
