Morrow County Commissioners came out Friday to County Road 61 just west of County Road 28 to view a demonstration of the county’s new Dura Patcher pothole machine.
Asst. County Engineer Bart Dennison joined workers Matt Carwell and Jarun Jesson at the location to explain the process to commissioners as the men were working on CR 61.
“It’s a little more permanent solution, though it does take longer,” Dennison said Friday of the process. ODOT has them and most counties have one, he said of the machine, and has it out on the road every dry day available.
The process: First, the nozzle uses air to blow debris out of the pothole. Then a layer of black ‘tack’ is applied to the hole and beyond the edge so it ‘contains’ the hole, lessening the chances of the hole expanding in size. Next, a layer of stone mixed with tack is applied to bind to the base. The final layer is dry stone so the mix doesn’t get picked up by cars. See a demonstration HERE.
“It makes for a nicer driving surface,” Dennison said. “It’s a more permanent solution, where hot mix is a hard product and tends to ‘pop up.’” He noted this is more of a blended material that does not lean toward ‘popping up.’ The down side, he said, is that it takes a little longer to do than hot or cold patching, because the dirt is blown out first and a layer of tack is applied.
“With hot mix, we’re basically throwing it down in the hole, driving over it, and going on,” Dennison explained. “It a lot longer to do it this way, but it’s a more permanent solution. When these roads are where I’d like to see them at in the future, this will be more of a ‘maintenance’ solution.”
When temperatures are below freezing, the Dura Patching process cannot be used. But Dennison said when it’s above forty degrees, they can work a long season with the machine. Cold mix is used in colder temperatures and is a more pliable material that conforms to the pothole. Hot mix sets up fast, gets really hard and sometimes brittle but makes for a smoother surface than cold mix. The Dura Patcher eliminates shoveling heavy materials from high levels, and so is very ‘worker friendly,’ Dennison said. “It’s much easier on the workers because the hose is supported and easily maneuvered.”
Though the product isn’t for the huge potholes, deep holes can be filled with hot or cold mix within a couple of inches from the top, then finished off with the Dura Patcher.
“What we’re doing with the seal (tack) is keeping the water out,” he explained.”Water is the whole enemy.”
There will be a public meeting about roads August 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Community Services Room at the Community Services Building on W. Marion Road.
Reach Randa Wagner at 419-946-3010, ext. 1803 or on Twitter@MorrCoSentinel.
