Our DPW Should Leave Street Repaving To The Professionals. We Can't Afford Them To Mishandle It Anymore!

July 2023 (the asphalt was still hot
to the touch when I took this picture)

It doesn't take a structural engineer to know that laying asphalt in the rain is an absolute no-no (unless, of course, you want to create a surface that won't last very long).  But that is exactly what our DPW did in early July of last year on Columbia Street. Just 8 months later, DPW's street repaving work is showing signs of weakness and failure. This is not the first time I have noticed shoddy paving work by DPW.  It seems to be their forte.  (The picture above was taken prior the final layer of asphalt being installed the following day.)

3 long, narrow sections of the eastbound lane in the 500 block of Columbia Street were dug up and repaved by DPW to replace missing and damaged asphalt surrounding three storm drains.  While it's not uncommon for asphalt surrounding storm drains to fail, particularly on our truck route, 8 months is far too soon for it to be failing, trucks or no trucks.  Certainly not if you claim to know what you are doing with asphalt.

When will this need to be redone?

Just 8 months later

The next storm drain to the east on Columbia

And the next one, also with failing asphalt 

If asked why his department's new pavement on Columbia Street is failing so quickly, I have no doubt that DPW Superintendent Robert Perry would put the blame on the trucks.  And that response would be complete bullshit. He'd probably even deny that it rained in early July when his crew laid asphalt in the 500 block of Columbia over the course of two days. But I was there, I saw it and I took a photo of the textbook wrong way to lay asphalt.  I saw the oil leaching out of the asphalt and forming a slick on the runoff as it made its way to the nearest storm drain at a lower elevation.  I knew it would begin to fail sooner than later.

As Hudseen readers are likely tired of being reminded, in 2022 our DPW was forced to begin reconstructing portions of failing South 3rd Street just 5 years after Colarusso had completely repaved those two blocks of the truck route.  In July of that year, DPW completely replaced -- down to the street's supposedly failing foundation -- both lanes of that busy street between Allen Street and Partition Alley. It is the only section of the street that isn't currently full of cracks, failing asphalt and a bumpy, uneven ride.**  Unsurprisingly, though, it is plainly clear that Robert Perry's DPW did not do a satisfactory job reconstructing the street, and that smoothness may not last much longer.  

Accumulated rainwater in the street, unable
to reach the storm drain just a few feet
away at the corner!

For nearly the past two years, both during and well after rainfall, there is always a large pool of water covering most of the width of the northbound traffic lane just north of Allen Street. Why is that?  Because the water is not able to reach the nearby storm drain. How is that possible on a new street?  Because whoever installed the asphalt did not make sure that the street surface was properly graded, that's how.  This is inexcusable -- or at least it should be.  It would be unacceptable from any professional paver paid to do a paving job.  "Sorry, do it over correctly or we sue you."

Like on the 500 block of Columbia Street, it is further evidence of work from amateurs in way over their heads.  Anyone would be hard pressed to find any Public Works Department foolish enough to take on the task of complete road reconstruction.  This difficult work is almost always left to the professionals.  It's simply not wise or cost effective for a DPW to try to handle it.  Just look to South 3rd Street.

First of all, no accumulated pools of water - certainly not any large ones -- were ever the case anywhere on South 3rd Street prior to DPW repaving it two years ago, not before or the 5 years following Colarusso's repaving of the street.  Second, Colarusso or any other professional paver would point to that large pool of accumulated water, possibly laugh, and say, "This is pathetic, who did this work?  We would never have allowed this to happen."  If you can't create a street that allows water to quickly drain and not accumulate, you probably shouldn't be doing the work.  Why?  Because large pools of accumulated water on streets are unexpected and dangerous to drivers, and they often turn to ice.  Perhaps more importantly, your street will fail prematurely due to the near constant moisture, and you will have to repave it all over again well before you planned on doing so.  

The persistent, damaging and dangerous accumulated water on South 3rd Street, thanks to our DPW, begs one question:  What else might DPW have done wrong on the 4 sections of South 3rd Street that it has been reconstructing over the past two years?  They clearly didn't know what they were doing, and it was obvious from the start.

According to my notes from the informal council meeting on Monday, July 11th, 2022, DPW Superintendent Robert Perry had this to say about DPW's road reconstruction work on South 3rd Street between Allen and Partition that was underway:  "We do the pavement in layers, but we can't have rain between the layers."  According to the minutes from that meeting, found on the city's website, Mr. Perry also said this about the work:  "We need three consecutives good days of weather and no rain.  One lane of the street has everything done except for the topcoat."  It "poured rain" soon after the meeting that night -- I made note of it at the time.  Which is to say, it poured rain between the layers!  The lane that Mr. Perry was referring to nearly two years ago was the northbound lane, the one that soon began accumulating water and still does to this day every time it rains.  I took the pictures yesterday, and I could take similar pictures today.

If Mr. Perry would ever want to rid South 3rd Street of his department's poorly graded section north of Allen Street, he would need someone to remove a large portion of the street and repave it properly.  One hopes that DPW wouldn't do the work, since they are obviously not qualified to do so.

What a show!

** Actually, the southbound lane of the entire South 3rd Street is pretty rough since National Grid's contractor dug a trench there late last year and covered it with lumpy, temporary asphalt. That will all need to be repaved this year, including on DPW's two-year-old repaved section between Allen & Partition!