COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Wednesday was the first opportunity to see one of the city’s dozen new public works employees recently hired to help in the never-ending battle against pesky potholes.
KRDO 13 went to the intersection of Woodmen Road and Union Boulevard on the city’s northeast side to meet Steve, one of the new arrivals.
He was already busy working with a crew, receiving on-the-job training in pothole repair. KRDO 13 wasn’t allowed to interview him, but an official spoke on his behalf and that of other pothole workers.
“They’re on main roads in high traffic volumes,” said Clint Brown, street operations manager. This is dangerous work. “It’s not for the faint of heart. These guys are doing a great job, and I just don’t think people realize it’s more than just throwing asphalt in a hole.”
He said that in good weather, crews use hot-mix asphalt — a more extensive but longer-lasting process that includes cutting out the area around a pothole, blowing out loose debris, sealing it with a tar-like material, placing fresh asphalt into it, and rolling it flat.
That process differs from cold-mix asphalt, in which the material is placed into a pothole as a short-term fix in colder or wetter weather…