Pothole battle goes indoors to engineering lab

The city is hoping science can help in the annual pothole crisis.

The relentless freeze-thaw cycles that eat upEdmonton roads are becoming more frequent, thanks to climate change,so the city is studying how to adapt asphalt to the new conditions.

Ultimately what it has given usthe opportunity to do is to take our mixes and tailor them to our climate conditions so we can hopefully get better performance, saidHugh Donovan,with the citys Engineering Services Quality Assurance Laboratory.

His lab is anything buthigh-tech. Its freezers and vats of hot water, reaching temperatures of 60 C.

Donovan'sjob is to put different asphalt samples put through various freeze-thaw cycles and test their endurance over time, mimicking whats happening on Edmontons roads.

Better asphalt performance translates to better roads and fewer potholes.

"It's our hope that continued research into asphalt mixes in northern climates will lead to the development of materials that will prolong the life cycle of roads in this extreme northern climate, Donovan said.

The budget for pothole repair in Edmonton is $5.9 million for 2015 while $55 million has been set aside for rehabilitating arterial roads.

This year's early spring has meant citycrews have been busyfillingpotholes 65,000 since January.

Weve just taken advantage of the weather," said BobDunford, the citys director of roadway maintenance. "Weve been able to get at it, put a lot of crews out.

Dunfordpredicted this spring will be a big year for potholes, but doesnt expect itto surpass the record number of 750,000 seen in 2013.

In 2014, the city filled 485,000 potholes, which according toDunfordwas an average year.