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PARK CITY -- As winter lingers in Utah, potholes dig deeper into many roads we ride.
Traditional patch work is expensive, rarely lasts, and does not work in extreme cold. But a Park City man came up with a solution that lasts longer and helps save our tax money.
Everything we use is already here on site. We're just reusing it.
–Kevon Ogden, UDOT
#ogden_quote
"I started playing with this and thought it might be a better way to fix roads," said HeatWurx inventor Rich Giles.
Weather, salt and traffic sap the oil from the asphalt, causing it to crumble. But HeatWurx gives road crews a longer lasting and cheaper solution than shoveling fill into the hole and patting it down.
The Utah Department of Transportation likes Giles' HeatWurx system so much it nominated the process for a national award for new technology.
Giles showed KSL News how the process works on a massive pothole in the westbound lanes of I-80 in Parley's Canyon. Near East Canyon is a large gouge that regularly needed a new patch.
During the repair process, small tractors moved large heating devices over the damaged road -- the heating is the key to the process.
"Reheat the asphalt and make it pliable and soft," Giles explained. "Once it's pliable, we can re-introduce oil into the mix."
The crew heated the road, ground in the damaged asphalt, then added oil and new fill. The heating creates a seamless bond and lets crews work in the cold.
UDOT East District Area Supervisor Kevon Ogden says he likes the process for several reasons.
"Once we're done with this, we shouldn't have to come back here for years to come," he said.
Ogden says the HeatWurx system lets crews concentrate on the problem part of the road, rather than having to dig up a much larger section. They also don't have to haul in quite as much fill or haul off damaged road material, which helps cut down on transportation costs.
"Everything we use is already here on site," Ogden said. "We're just reusing it."
Giles and UDOT agree the process is 60 percent to 75 percent cheaper than patching, and that saves taxpayer money.
Giles expects four to five years of duration from the new road. "We've got two winters in now where we've done work for UDOT, and they've held up through the freeze and thaw cycle," he said.
A deal with the Texas Department of Transportation is coming together, and Giles sees potential demand across the country.
The HeatWurx machines are made in Ogden and are available for city and county road departments to contract through Wheeler Machinery in Utah.
E-mail: jboal@ksl.com
