DCPS’ Post

Transcript

Think of a sponge. So when you buy a new sponge, it's all nice and fluffy and you use it and you use and you use it, and then all of a sudden your edges start to curl up. It starts to shrink because the properties of the sponge are starting to fail because you're introducing water to it. Water is the most damaging material in our industry. Not even just concrete, pavement and asphalt pavement, paint, roofing, landscaping. I mean, too much rain or not enough rain, either one can really affect things, right? So with a building is being built or when a payment is being built originally constructed, they're testing that soil for moisture and densities, trying to get at the optimum moisture for compaction in order for that pavement to. Pass into last. That's perfect scenario. I mean, they're testing it the day that they're doing it. We're paving right after it. We're covering it up, never sees moisture again. Until everything starts to shrink a little bit and that's when you start to see water come in from the curb and gutter to the edge of the asphalt. You see little gaps in your drain pan where water starting to go in. So you start to see cracks in your asphalt open that you starting to see water going in was that water goes down in there. It's not getting any sun to dry so it stays wet and it just keeps moving and keeps moving. And then all of a sudden, you know, walking on dirt or walking on mud, what happens? Walk on dirt, you just get a dirty foot. We walk in mud. You're leaving an impression and. Shoes all muddy. Well, that's how potholes form. It's a flexible pavement, right? There's nothing structural in asphalt. No, it, it, it just moves with the ground. So if your ground's failing, your asphalt, it's going to fail. It might not be tomorrow, but it will be overtime. That's why it's so important to just keep your eyeballs on this stuff, because the sooner we can get it addressed, the less problems you're going to have.