There you are, sipping your coffee, thinking the day might actually be calm, when suddenly the phone rings. A resident reports that “a chunk of the road just collapsed under my Subaru.” You head out to investigate and sure enough, there it is: a small blacktop crater that looks like the earth’s just had … Read more
Let’s paint a picture: it’s a sunny Tuesday, your crew’s out on the shoulder with the backhoe, ready to dig. You’re swapping jokes, maybe arguing about where to get lunch, and then BOOM. You just turned a quiet ditch project into a fireworks show by hitting a gas line. Congratulations! You’ve now bought the town … Read more
Let’s be honest, recruiting good people for highway department jobs isn’t getting any easier. You’re often competing with private contractors who can offer higher wages, especially when it comes to drivers with a Class B CDL in their pocket. Civil servant pay? It’s not exactly going to make the top of the Best Jobs in … Read more
You don’t need to be a pavement engineer to know that cracks are bad news for your roads. But here’s the good news: you can fight back, and one of the simplest, most cost-effective tools in your arsenal is crack sealing. Let’s take a quick drive through the why, when, and how of crack sealing, … Read more
As a highway superintendent, you know your crews are under constant pressure to “just get it done.” A pothole needs patching. A tree limb needs removing. A catch basin needs a quick cleanout. And someone inevitably says, “We’ll be in and out in five minutes… no need to set up the whole work zone.” Stop … Read more