potholes repaired on Wednesday, May 8
After our adventures together, it was unfortunately time for Patty to go home. DOT Commissioner Sadik-Khan volunteered to bring Patty on her chariot home: the Staten Island Ferry! The best ride in NYC - it carries 65,000+ passengers per day. Even better, it’s free and operated by NYCDOT!
I made sure Patty had my number, and asked her to call me any time to report a pothole on the streets of Staten Island, or anywhere else in New York City.
Keep in touch, Patty!
potholes repaired on Monday, April 29.
Last week, I taught Patty all about her favorite subject: potholes. So far, I’ve helped fill more than 218,296 potholes throughout New York City since July 1, 2012.
A friendly pothole gang showed us the ropes. Patty is much shorter in person than I’d imagined - see her perched on top of the broom!
First, the crew swept out the pothole before pouring Hot AC around and inside the hole.
Next, the crew scooped some fresh asphalt out of the truck to fill the hole. I showed Patty that DOT uses the very same material to fill potholes that we use to pave the streets. Some of this was probably on a different street at some point in the not so distant past!
After tamping the asphalt flat (and allowing us to sit on the tamper for a quick moment), the crew added another round of Hot AC to make sure the pothole stays sealed and filled.
In a word: Smooth.
Asphalt like me looks grey or black to the naked eye. But Patty was happy to learn that I’m also green!
In the old days, milled asphalt ended up in a landfill. But today, most of the asphalt we mill gets recycled! DOT makes a special product called Recycled Asphalt Pavement, or RAP, that allows us to get the asphalt back out onto city streets.
In many of its paving jobs, DOT uses recycled asphalt, annually incorporating over 400,000 tons of Recycled Asphalt Pavement, eliminating the need for 840,000 barrels of crude oil used in production.
Here, Patty and I are hanging out on aggregate from a milled street - asphalt that will be re-used on a paving site!
Learn more about sustainable street resurfacing.
On Wednesday, Patty and I checked out a DOT paving site, where we encountered a crew smoothing the streets with fresh asphalt.
Paving comes after milling, and there is often a week or two between milling a street and paving it. The timing helps DOT work as efficiently as possible, so I explained that when Patty sees a milled street she shouldn’t worry. The paving trucks will be by shortly!
Patty was excited to learn that DOT paves 1,000 lane miles of streets each year; that’s the same as paving a road all the way from NYC to Florida!
potholes repaired on Monday, April 22
Today, I taught Patty about milling. Milling entails grinding the top layer of asphalt off of the road so that we have a clean slate to pave it smoothly. Usually, paving happens in the warmer months but this year we were able to pave all winter long.
DOT mills over a million tons of asphalt every year in New York City. That’s more than the weight of 170,000 elephants!
Loyal followers, meet Pothole Patty, a friend of the Staten Island Advance who helps them track potholes and reports them to us here at DOT.
I was on the job smoothing streets on Staten Island last week, when it happened. I locked eyes with a lovely gnome atop a safety barrel. Off she flew into my arms. (Well, I don’t have arms, but you get the picture.) Once she learned that I had the inside scoop on smoothing streets, she asked if she could spend a little time with us. Of course I said yes!
Before we started our adventure, we made sure to get our safety gear on, since safety is our top priority here at DOT. Unfortunately, reflective vests do not come in gnome sizes, so we improvised.
Our first stop? An asphalt plant.
Every day, DOT fills trucks with asphalt and send them out into the streets to make them smoother for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
Patty and I watched my coworkers fill up a truck from the control tower. Before the driver left, he let us sit on the rim to take it all in. It’s a beautiful day to smooth the streets!
Did you know? Last week DOT crews used 16,049 tons of asphalt for paving – that’s the same weight as 4,012,250 gallons of milk!
Tools of the Trade: Lights Towers / Nighttime Illumination
At night, DOT uses light towers and balloon lights, with 1000 watts per bulb, to enhance visibility of the work zone for workers and motorists alike.
In the US, one work zone injury occurs every 16 minutes
This post is part of National Work Zone Awareness Week.
