BROWN CO, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Two words: heat and humidity. That combination is causing pavement to buckle, concrete joints to fail and traffic to back up.
From Monday night in Brown County to Tuesday morning in Winnebago County, the effects of this week’s heat wave are leaving their mark on Northeast Wisconsin roadways and drivers. Incidents are still occurring Tuesday evening, too.
“We wish we could be able to predict it and be able to proactively address it, but unfortunately when pavement buckles, it’s more of a reactionary type of thing,” said Randy Asman, a traffic supervisor with WisDOT.
Crews in Winnebago County were forced to close the southbound lanes of I-41 after a concrete joint on the Lake Butte des Morts bridge failed in the heat. That closure during Tuesday morning’s commute led to a big backup on the highway.
About 30 miles north in Brown County, it was a similar scene following the rush hour, after crews had to restrict southbound traffic on I-41 south of Scheuring Road to one lane — again.
Part of that roadway buckled Monday night. While crews put in a temporary fix, a little touch up was needed to finish the job for now.
On Tuesday evening, all southbound lanes on US 41 from WIS 22 to Mile Marker 197 near Oconto were closed due to a pavement buckle. It was the same problem in Manitowoc County near Cleveland, when a pavement buckle closed the left lane on I-43 northbound at County Highway XX.
DOT and county highway department officials say the potential for buckling issues is high right now because of this hot and humid weather.
According to Michael Piacenti with the Brown County Highway Department, “A lot of moisture we’ve had this year and moisture getting into the concrete or into the subsurface, and then with this extreme heat, it’s causing basically steam and blowing out the concrete.”
After Tuesday’s heat, the temperatures will be dropping a bit, reducing the chances of buckling on concrete roads. But drivers still need to be aware of the dangers, as the summer season is just starting to get underway.
Asman added, “When pavement buckles there could be some debris on the road, if our crews haven’t made it out there yet, so watch out for debris on the road. Sometimes pavement buckles and they actually tent up so it can kind of feel like a speed bump. So, just be aware, leave room in front of you and be careful of what you might encounter on these days.”
While there’s no way to predict where these buckling issues are going to happen, officials say they usually happen between 3 and 7p.m. — during the hottest part of the day — after the roadways have been baking in the sun.
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