Heat, moisture combine to pulverize pavement
Johnny Nelson watched as pieces of the sidewalk along Old Highway 63 rose like teepees in the summer.
The section near his house, close to the intersection of Bushnell Drive, needed maintenance from the retired carpenter in the winter, when snow covered it. But Thursday night proved it an all-season problem.
“It would make a nice ramp for skateboarders,” Nelson said. “But, it kind of surprised me. I didn’t know what was going on at first.”
The sidewalk experienced a pavement blow-up, when moisture and heat mix beneath the surface of a road or sidewalk and push the surface up. Department of Transportation engineer Randy Aulbur described it as a buckling of the pavement where moisture gets in through cracks. Aulbur said in a news release that it’s often hard to predict where blow-ups can occur.
Nelson said the blow-ups began happening more frequently on Old Highway 63 when the city installed a new, wider sidewalk a few years ago. The pieces have popped up along other parts, but this time affected a part near the driveway.
“We can get into our driveway,” Nelson told ABC 17 News. “We don’t want anybody to get hurt.”
Columbia Public Works spokesman Barry Dalton said the department knew of other blow-ups in town, such as several spots on Rangeline Street.
MoDOT encourages anyone who sees a blow-up call the service center at 1-888-ASK-MODOT (275-6636).
