The Pine Bluff Street Department is working to keep up with demand on street repairs after heavy rains this spring pushed crews back to square one when it comes to patching potholes.
During a Traffic and Aviation Committee meeting this week, Street Department Director Rick Rhoden said his crews were doing quite a bit of repair work throughout the city.
The department is taking advantage of breaks in the weather to start repairs, but with storms rolling through every few days, progress is slow.
In a follow-up interview with the Pine Bluff Commercial, Rhoden said the Street Department is averaging about 300 potholes a day per a crew of two.
"We had all the potholes caught up last fall," Rhoden said. "The wintertime with the snow and all of that increased the potholes to nearly double. We're backed up to nearly ground zero."
Potholes occur when soil that is compacted beneath pavement weakens or becomes displaced, and then a combination of traffic and water adds to the damage.
When cars drive over these weak spots, the pavement deforms, cracks and chips away, leaving a hole in the road surface. Then water fills the opening, eroding the pavement more.
In November, storms hit the area several times, causing debris that the department had to deal with. At that time, Rhoden said it put the department behind on its street overlay schedule.
"We've been patching potholes, true enough," Rhoden said. "But that's just a temporary fix."
Rhoden said his crews have also been focused on cleaning ditches to help with drainage.
"People don't realize we've got over 800 miles of ditches here in Pine Bluff, and with two machines running, that's not very much productivity as far as the overall length," Rhoden said.
To help the crews, Rhoden asked the public to stop throwing leaves and trash in the ditches.
"The rain will wash it down and stop up the drainage," said Rhoden, who added that his crews work on cleaning out the city's ditches any chance they can get. "That's one of our biggest issues in Pine Bluff. People rake their leaves to the ditch and expect the city to pick them up. They should bag them up and let waste management have them."
The Pine Bluff Street Department has also begun work on the Streetscape project, providing overlay on Barraque Street as well as patching potholes in that area.
Overlay work has been on pause because the sand and gravel machine has been out of operation -- a problem that Rhoden said he expects to be addressed by next week.
Rhoden's to-do list is growing, and he says he needs more manpower and dedicated drivers for his team.
"I need employees. I need truck drivers," said Rhoden, who added that anyone interested could apply online or in person at City Hall. "We're short-handed. I need people willing to work."