Home » News » Weather
March 17. 2013 10:17PM
Crews in Mont Vernon try to ease some of the pain of traveling on the town's dirt roads by filling potholes with crushed stone. (NANCY BEAN FOSTER)
NEW BOSTON -- AS ANYONE WHO travels the dirt roads that stretch across the Granite State knows, mud season is upon us.
Not quite winter and not quite spring, mud season occurs when the snow and surface ice are melting, but the ice lurking deep underground is still comfortably cold.
According to Dick Perusse, New Boston's road agent, that ice keeps the water on the surface from draining properly and allows it to pool near the surface, turning roads to thick puddles of muck.
"When we plow dirt roads, the machines just pound that frost into the ground and it stays there until it melts," he said.
But Perusse said what really causes the worst mud is not the ice.
"In New Hampshire, a lot of our dirt roads started out as horse paths and were just widened a bit to accommodate automobiles later on," he said. "When mud season hit, the folks just used to lay pine boughs across the roads and drive over them. In really bad spots, they used logs and laid them horizontally across, creating corduroy roads." Though our forefathers made travel easier for themselves using these methods, they made roads a mess for us, said Perusse. All that organic material eventually rotted over time, creating a rich topsoil.
"Topsoil doesn't drain well," said Perusse. "It holds the water."
And of course, water plus dirt equals mud.
Potholes galore
Further complicating things are the potholes that form when those muddy, rutted roads freeze, creating miles of bone-rattling bumps that take out undercarriages and pry loose hubcaps.
On Friday, crews from the Mont Vernon Department of Public Works were out with a loader and a dump truck full of gravel filling in the worst spots. Road Agent Mike Ypya said there wasn't much else they could do.
"We can't grade the roads yet because there's still ice under there and it will tear up our machines," he said.
And grading a road that can't drain properly can exacerbate the mud problem because the loose soil provides lots of places for water to hide, said Bruce Berry, director of the Amherst Department of Public Works. Berry said he learned that lesson the hard way years ago running a grader in the town of Mason.
"Getting out too early with a grader on a gravel road can create six inches of mud the full width and length of a road," he said.
Berry compared a road that's graded too soon to a kid making a mud pie in a bucket.
"It's the same thing, only worse," he said.
To help drivers navigate particularly muddy areas, Ypya said the crews will put down crushed stone to provide a firmer base for cars to drive over. But for the most part, mud season is like a cold - you just have to let it run its course.
Paving problems
Those who live on paved roads have their own share of headaches as potholes suddenly seem to come out of nowhere, flattening tires and snapping axles. As the frost heaves melt and settle back into place, cracks form in the asphalt and weaken certain spots in the road. All it takes is a car going a bit too fast to hit that compromised area, and a large chuck of the roadway can flip out of place. Each subsequent strike on and around the hole by another tire just makes it deeper and wider. Within a day or two, a small pothole can become a big monster.
It's still too cold to put down asphalt to fill the holes, said Cathy Willmott of the Goffstown Highway Department. Instead, crews fill the gaps with crushed stone, a temporary fix.
"They fill them as they pop up, but they just seem to pop up everywhere," said Willmott. "It's a never-ending job."
In the summer, Willmott said the crews will have a chance to patch the potholes with asphalt.
"The asphalt is the sticky stuff," she said. "That does the trick."
Slow it down
If Perusse could have just one wish as road agent during mud season, he'd ask folks to reduce speed to make his life, and their lives, easier.
"What people don't understand is the faster a car goes, the harder it hits the ground, and the more potholes you get," he said. "If there are potholes on a dirt road, I can guarantee you people are driving fast on that road."
nfoster@newstote.com
New Hampshire drivers, road crews grapple with mud season
Crews in Mont Vernon try to ease some of the pain of traveling on the town's dirt roads by filling potholes with crushed stone. (NANCY BEAN FOSTER)
Not quite winter and not quite spring, mud season occurs when the snow and surface ice are melting, but the ice lurking deep underground is still comfortably cold.
According to Dick Perusse, New Boston's road agent, that ice keeps the water on the surface from draining properly and allows it to pool near the surface, turning roads to thick puddles of muck.
"When we plow dirt roads, the machines just pound that frost into the ground and it stays there until it melts," he said.
But Perusse said what really causes the worst mud is not the ice.
"In New Hampshire, a lot of our dirt roads started out as horse paths and were just widened a bit to accommodate automobiles later on," he said. "When mud season hit, the folks just used to lay pine boughs across the roads and drive over them. In really bad spots, they used logs and laid them horizontally across, creating corduroy roads." Though our forefathers made travel easier for themselves using these methods, they made roads a mess for us, said Perusse. All that organic material eventually rotted over time, creating a rich topsoil.
"Topsoil doesn't drain well," said Perusse. "It holds the water."
And of course, water plus dirt equals mud.
Potholes galore
Further complicating things are the potholes that form when those muddy, rutted roads freeze, creating miles of bone-rattling bumps that take out undercarriages and pry loose hubcaps.
On Friday, crews from the Mont Vernon Department of Public Works were out with a loader and a dump truck full of gravel filling in the worst spots. Road Agent Mike Ypya said there wasn't much else they could do.
"We can't grade the roads yet because there's still ice under there and it will tear up our machines," he said.
And grading a road that can't drain properly can exacerbate the mud problem because the loose soil provides lots of places for water to hide, said Bruce Berry, director of the Amherst Department of Public Works. Berry said he learned that lesson the hard way years ago running a grader in the town of Mason.
"Getting out too early with a grader on a gravel road can create six inches of mud the full width and length of a road," he said.
Berry compared a road that's graded too soon to a kid making a mud pie in a bucket.
"It's the same thing, only worse," he said.
To help drivers navigate particularly muddy areas, Ypya said the crews will put down crushed stone to provide a firmer base for cars to drive over. But for the most part, mud season is like a cold - you just have to let it run its course.
Paving problems
Those who live on paved roads have their own share of headaches as potholes suddenly seem to come out of nowhere, flattening tires and snapping axles. As the frost heaves melt and settle back into place, cracks form in the asphalt and weaken certain spots in the road. All it takes is a car going a bit too fast to hit that compromised area, and a large chuck of the roadway can flip out of place. Each subsequent strike on and around the hole by another tire just makes it deeper and wider. Within a day or two, a small pothole can become a big monster.
It's still too cold to put down asphalt to fill the holes, said Cathy Willmott of the Goffstown Highway Department. Instead, crews fill the gaps with crushed stone, a temporary fix.
"They fill them as they pop up, but they just seem to pop up everywhere," said Willmott. "It's a never-ending job."
In the summer, Willmott said the crews will have a chance to patch the potholes with asphalt.
"The asphalt is the sticky stuff," she said. "That does the trick."
Slow it down
If Perusse could have just one wish as road agent during mud season, he'd ask folks to reduce speed to make his life, and their lives, easier.
"What people don't understand is the faster a car goes, the harder it hits the ground, and the more potholes you get," he said. "If there are potholes on a dirt road, I can guarantee you people are driving fast on that road."
nfoster@newstote.com
- Weather Service warns of severe thunderstorms in southern NH - 0
- Heavy rain could bring flooding in areas of NH - 1
- Rain, wind and snow: Epping clan reports it all - 0
- Tropical Storm Andrea forms - 0
- North Country gets back on track after wild weather - 0
- Powerful storms bring damage to Grafton County - 0
- At least 9 dead in new Oklahoma storms - 0
- Mother and baby killed as tornadoes menace Oklahoma City - 0
- Tornado emergency declared for part of hard-hit Oklahoma town of Moore - 0
Powerful storm wreaks havoc in Portsmouth
READER COMMENTS: 0- Londonderry students who haven't had whooping cough vaccine asked to stay home - 0
- House, Senate agree on capital budget, including new $38 million women's prison - 0
- Windham's Common Man suffers heavy water damage in fire - 0
- Elderly man critical after North Hampton camper fire - 0
- 'Home grow' dropped on way to medical marijuana compromise - 7
- Death investigation under way in Manchester, no foul play suspected - 0
- Vet Home budget reworked after proposed cuts - 0
- Enfield fire leaves one burned - 0
- Driver rescued after Franklin crash, 50-foot plunge - 0
Hooksett students taken to nearby school after gas leak
READER COMMENTS: 0| Follow us: | ||
 |
 |
 |
Sorry, no question available