Aging roadways mixed with extreme weather makes perfect recipe for potholes

Deluge of rain prompts flood of tow truck calls CAA Manitoba received 250 calls for tow trucks on Sunday which is more than double what’s typical.

Not only did Winnipeggers have to suffer through a cold and extra snowy winter followed by a late April storm, they are now dealing with the aftermath on the roads—potholes.

The city said 311 has received 3,323 requests to fix potholes and crews have repaired more than 33,000 potholes in 2022. CAA Manitoba told CTV News it has also dealt with hundreds of calls on the weekend related to the weather and potholes and even more calls on Monday.

The extreme weather may be to blame for the many potholes, along with the age of the roads, according to an expert.

"Coming off the severe winter, with several freeze-thaw cycles, that tends to create more damage for infrastructure," said Dr. Ahmed Shalaby, who is a professor of civil engineering at the University of Manitoba.

He said a lot of new infrastructure was built in the 1960s to the 1980s amid significant growth in Winnipeg and across Canada, but the infrastructure is not holding up.

"They are all deteriorating. Climate change, of course, is adding to that rate of deterioration, accelerating it significantly," he said.

"Designs that were installed or constructed 40 or 50 years ago were never designed for the level of traffic we have today and they were also not designed for the type of environment we have today."

Shalaby said it has been difficult for municipalities and transportation departments to keep up with the deterioration as resources are needed to either replace existing infrastructure or apply fixes to extend the life of roads.

"When it gets to about the 50- or 60-year range of age of infrastructure, you start to see more decay and accelerated decay and at that point it becomes more cost-effective to replace some of these as we go forward."

He said cities like Winnipeg have plans in place to try to identify roads that need replacement, but are continuously playing catch up.

The city said pothole repairs started in early April and the focus is on main routes as well as bus routes and collector streets as required.

Shalaby said for all cities, not just Winnipeg, to succeed at improving roads, innovation needs to be looked to help create better designs that can withstand the test of time. He said the U of M is trying to find new materials to improve roadways, and he knows the city is also working on new designs but noted advancements take time to research and apply.

He added if Winnipeggers were to look at newer roads in the city they would see that they have been performing better compared to those that are much older.

A spokesperson for the city said streets are inspected and assessed based on pavement condition.

"Then the City determines which streets require repair and which treatments are required, such as asphalt overlay, rehabilitation, or reconstruction," the spokesperson said, adding decisions are based on factors including the road's condition, usage and traffic.

The city also notes there are different types of rehabilitations for roads, which depends on the conditions of the road, ranging from fair condition to poor condition.

When it comes to repair potholes, the city said when the weather is colder, crews use a temporary patch, which is an asphalt mix called cold mix.

"Due to unfavourable wet weather and wet road conditions at this time of year, crews may have to return several times to repair the same pothole in the coming days to improve the condition of the roadway."

When the weather warms up, the city uses hot asphalt for a more permanent fix.

Winnipeggers can report potholes online or by calling 311.