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Public Works
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March 2014
-*.- Thaw and Freeze
If it wasn't snowing, it was melting. If
it was melting, it was creating
problems on a few streets and in a
few intersections. Public Works crews
responded to 4 snow events during
March, spending 370 hours in
snowplows and applying 411 tons of
deicer. Once temperatures warmed
up and snow began to melt, the focus
changed to clearing frozen catch
basins and pumping water from e
streets and intersections. The key
to the effort was to open up the
stream that drains from
Foxborough Park through the
Valley Park area and southeast
into Farmington. Over the
winter, the stream had frozen to
almost its full depth and
significantly impeded the flow as
the weather warmed. In I
addition, the extreme cold weather
this winter and the depth of the
ground frost resulted in several catch
basins and storm sewer lines freezing
solid, especially those adjacent to the
creek. This, in turn created problems
east of Cedar Avenue. The Streets
Division brought in special
equipment to break up the ice in the
LAKEVILLE PUBLIC WORKS
Christopher Petree, Director
March 2014
" I*'
1
section of the creek that runs through
Bunker Hill Park' and open up
portions of the storm sewer system
that drain into the creek.
That, however, was only the half the
problem, the frozen storm sewer lines
n . eeded to be opened as well. Public
Works crews used a variety of
methods to open the frozen lines,
primarily relying on high pressure
water and a special nozzle to punch
throuah the affected areas. Where
hot water could be used, it proved very effective in opening some of the lines. In
the meantime, they pumped the standing water around the blocked areas to the
next available catch basin to move it down stream.
-*.- Potholes
Potholes never seem to get smaller.
This year's potholes easily seemed
larger than last years, especially when
you fall into one you didn't see.
Streets Division crews are out daily
filling potholes and large cracks in
the pavement. Fortunately, the St.
Paul asphalt plant opened in March
and began producing hot mix asphalt
which provides a better fix for
potholes than cold mix. The extent of
the pothole problem this spring is
best gauged by the time it takes to
get hot mix once you get to the plant.
Streets staff spent almost two hours
in a line that stretched for blocks
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the patch truck holds enough hot mix for a full day of filling potholes.
4.* Spring Load Restrictions
A couple of things really point to the
arrival of spring. One is the start of
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year. The other is the establishment
of spring load restrictions on roads
throughout the state. Spring load
restrictions went into effect on
Friday, March 14, and can last for as
long as eight weeks. The Minneso a
Department of Transportation
establishes the spring load
restrictions based on observations of
pavement deflection, frost depth, air
temperature, and forecast trends
that predict additional thawing. The
City follows the same timing for
spring load restrictions as the state.
Setting spring load restrictions is
important in preserving street
integrity and allowing trapped
moisture to adequately drain away
as the lower soil layers thaw. As hard as it may be to perceive the arrival of spring,
at least one of the indicators is pointing in that direction. Lakeville's streets are
limited to five tons per axle unless otherwise posted.