HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 05.bAll in a day -
The Streets Division is responsible for a variety of tasks dealing with not only the
road system but also storm drainage and contract monitoring. This is a look into
typical daily assignments for street and fleet maintenance staff.
Storm Catch Basin Repairs
With the heavy rains over the last
few weeks and months, sinkholes
have developed around storm
sewer catch basins resulting from
leaks around the structure. These
leaks have allowed sand and dirt to
erode and wash down the storm
system. In some places, settlement
has occurred behind the curb and in
other instances, it has happened in
front of the curb causing a
depression in the asphalt. In either
case, staff is assigned to go into the
catch basin and make repairs to the
structure to stop the inflow of storm water
that is causing the problem. In addition,
they will replace the asphalt that was
removed as part of the repair. Typically, they
will put down the first lift of asphalt and
then move on to other similar repairs while
the first lift cures. Working on a circuit of
repairs, they return later that same day, add
the second lift, and tamp it down to be level
with the surrounding road surface.
LAKEVILLE OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
Christopher Petree, Director
July 201 1
Fleet Maintenance
With 350 pieces of equipment, both
rolling stock and powered tools,
fleet maintenance is a bustling
environment. In one maintenance
bay, there may be a squad car in for
service while another requires
troubleshooting to determine the
problem with the warning lights in
the instrument cluster. In another
bay, parts are removed from a
pickup truck to be reused on a
newer truck. A troublesome fluid
leak in a dump truck keeps
another technician occupied, first
trying to find the Teak and then to
repair it. In this case, the leak was
in the hydraulic system and
required replacement of the
pump, a major repair. Finally,
routine service of a skid steer
required lifting off the cab
structure and getting into the
engine compartment to make
sure everything was in working order.
Lake Marion Outflow Cleaning
High water in Lake Marion has to go
somewhere. To reduce high water levels
caused by heavy rains this season, an
outflow from Lake Marion leads to South
Creek and moves the excess water
through the southern parts of the City. A
combination of drainage ways, culverts,
and pipes ensures that the water moves
freely across the City. To keep the water
flowing, Streets maintenance staff
cleaned out the drainage ways and
culverts of trapped debris that may
reduce the flow. In many cases, small
trees have rooted and grown in the
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drainage ways and needed to be
removed. In other cases, the culvert
grates were covered reducing the
water flow. Streets maintenance
staff continues to go through these
areas to check and ensure
unimpeded water flow through the
drainage system.
Seal Coating
The seal coating process involves the
spraying of an emulsion on the roadway
to seal the asphalt and then spreading a
traction layer of aggregate on top of the
emulsion. The aggregate, as it is driven
over, will embed itself in the emulsion,
create a new road surface, and contribute
to extending the life of the underlying
asphalt. The sealing of the asphalt with
the emulsion is an important step in
extending the life of asphalt. From the
Streets Division perspective, the seal
coating process means monitoring the
contractor to make sure they are applying
the correct emulsion and the right amount
of aggregate per square yard. It also
means staying ahead of the
contractor and sweeping the next
area that they will be in, making
sure signs are in place, and, when
seal coating is completed,
sweeping up the extra aggregate
that did not embed itself in the
emulsion. With constant staff
involvement from the start to the
final clean up, it is an intense
process.
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Preparing Asphalt Patches
The Utilities Division relies on the
Streets Division to assist in
preparing water main break
areas to be patched. In many
cases the Streets Division
provides both equipment and
staff to haul materials and create
the proper base to receive the
asphalt. Several water main
breaks on Iteri Avenue had
suffered from the heavy rains
and had to be rebuilt to create a
firm base for an asphalt patch. Staff removed the old
Class 5 gravel and put down a course of larger rock to
improve drainage. Some of the gravel was then put
back in the patch and tamped down to receive the
new asphalt. An asphalt contractor followed up to
complete the patch.
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