U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Springtime brings us all out, and the 10th Civil Engineer Squadron Pavement and Heavy Equipment section could use your help identifying and locating potholes and damaged roadways, focusing on parking lots and main roads.
Living in beautiful Colorado Springs with unlimited views is amazing; driving and avoiding damaged pavement, not so much. Many of the city and county public works departments within the maintenance infrastructure are the same group plowing snow from the roads; the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Pavement and Heavy Equipment section operates the same way.
At the Academy, we have approximately 116.40 miles of paved roads, 1.5 million square yards of paved parking lots and 551,558 square yards of airfield pavement to maintain and repair. This is no small feat, but we are up for the challenge!
You may have noticed that quite a few of our roads and parking areas have developed large potholes in the asphalt driving surfaces. These pavement defects start small but, due to a variety of deficiencies, can end up creating large issues. Potholes are caused by the freeze-thaw cycle. When moisture seeps into pavement, it expands when it freezes and contracts when it thaws. This flexing of the pavement, combined with the melted water and the stress of vehicular traffic, causes pavement to deteriorate and potholes to form. The same goes for the asphalt in the springtime, with the daily freeze-thaw cycles causing potholes on our streets and parking lots to form in a very short period.
High traffic use, overweight vehicles, and the age of our pavement, combined with deteriorating soil compaction under the pavements, create the perfect combination for potholes and damaged roadways. Repairs are necessary not only for the safety of our roads and parking lots but also for maintaining the longevity of the roadway structures.
This year, we will continue our innovative approach to combating potholes and road damage: infrared asphalt patching. This method of repair, which heats up the existing asphalt and rejuvenates the pavement for essentially a new seamless pothole patch, will greatly help our pothole crew with our deteriorating roads.
Our team does daily pavement inspections; however, we can always use the public’s help with identifying potholes and roadway damage.
Here are the three ways the Academy community can help us repair roadway damage:
- Call 333-2790 to report a pothole.
- When describing the area identified, please use a close-by facility number, intersection or general vicinity of the area/street you were on when you spotted the damage.
- Leave your name and contact information with whom you speak with at the above-mentioned phone number. This way, our team can reach you if they encounter any problems locating the specific damage.
Your participation in reporting potholes at the Academy is greatly appreciated.