Chicagoist: Potholes By The Numbers

Scooter Libbby

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 23:34:36 -0600

One thing that Hilkevitch left out is that all that salt the city uses makes the potholes worse. The melted snow flows down into the cracks & freezes & wrecks the streets. Places that don't use as much salt have better roads & less pothole. The streetlight poles also don't rust out as much.

smussy

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:28:37 -0600

potholes are one thing ... imo, the thing in the picture is one of my feared nemesi -- sinkholes! when the road starts to crumble in on itself, that's more than a pothole!!

quint

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 15:36:23 -0600

That number sounds right on. Concrete weighs about 150 pounds per cubic foot and asphalt can't be all that much different. So what this means is that an average pothole is about 18" across and 4" deep (assuming no waste product). I can definitely believe this.

Lefty

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:21:19 -0600

Since a bag of cold patch at the local home center weighs 50 pounds and would only fill a small pothole, this number sounds right. (The picture is a pothole needing at least 15 bags, or 750 lbs., of asphalt.)

Chicago J

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 12:58:38 -0600

The potholes under the bridge that connects Michigan Ave to LSD going North are unbelievable and have been that way for many years. Riding a CTA bus over- it's painful. You can see people bracing themselves before going through that minefield. And just when you think you've survived it 'BOOM' there's the biggest one yet. Some drivers are smart and go around or over them slowly but most just gun it.