From Plowing to Patching

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Different seasons mean different tasks for keeping Ohio’s roadways roadworthy. 

As winter’s constant freezing and thawing destroys roadways and bridges, spring’s milder weather conditions lend to personnel plugging potholes.

“Winter’s especially tough on our roadways. The repeated freeze-thaw cycle can make the road joints sometimes come apart and as I’m sure everyone’s aware, potholes can form like crazy because the water penetrates, freezes, leaves a void and now we’ve got a pothole. So that’s a lot of our main focus right now. Is you know, assessing those… that damage, finding out where it is, finding out where our focus needs to be, prioritizing those things and we’re also ramping up our maintenance projects as well. And things like culvert replacement and ditching and pothole patching,” Ohio Department of Transportation District 5 Public Information Officer Chas Cosgrave said.

Along with all the bridge and road inspections comes the winter equipment and vehicle conversions and upkeep. Removing the salt and grime, storing the plows and repairing any damages. 

“We can always use extra manpower,” Cosgrave said. “We’ll be hiring for summer seasonals across the entire district here really soon and you know, it’s a really great way to supplement our workforce. We’re always in need of the seasonal employees. You know, one of the things right now is, yeah, maybe that whole round the clock lessens a little bit but it never stops. You know we’re always prepared at a moment’s notice to respond to any roadway issues or anything mother nature wants to throw at us.”

Summertime always means the additional decoration of orange barrels to Ohio’s roadways and those projects will begin once the asphalt manufacturers open their gates to supply the materials needed for the many warm weather resurfacing projects happening throughout the state.