Concrete Roads Buckling in Extreme Heat

Fargo Public Works says this is a common issue when temperatures reach past the 90-degree mark.

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – While it might not be technically hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk, right now it is warm to the point of causing legitimate damage to local roads.

“That concrete roadway absorbs all of that heat, and we start seeing the surface temps run at 116 degrees and warmer,” explained Corey Houim, services manager for Fargo Public Works.

“We do have expansion joints in the roadways to help absorb some of that, when it does expand, but it can only take so much,” he added.

Public Works says they’ve seen three separate buckles since the heat wave began – on 25th Street South, 13th Avenue South, and Main Avenue near the I-29 bridge.

While the one on Main was minor, and taken care of in relative short order, that’s not always the case.

Public Works, though, say that it’s not anything they’re not used to.

“We’re prepared, the teams have all been there, done that,” said Houim.

They’re generally able to accommodate the additional repairs on top of their existing construction season workload.

The city also says that if you see any such instances of concrete failure, you should call the non-emergency tip line as soon as possible, so crews can get to the scene quickly and prevent harm to fellow drivers.