City of San Bernardino, Calif., tackles potholes after flood event

By: Cathy Somers

Southern California received record amounts of rain in December 2010; in fact, many areas recorded more rainfall during a 7-day period than they typically record for an entire year. With some areas receiving up to 28 in. of rain in this short time frame, the result was major landslides and flash flooding through many communities.

The disorder and dangerous conditions caused by the rain is what lead the city of San Bernardino to go into emergency mode. One of the many issues that had to be dealt with immediately was the high volume of potholes that were created from the constant onslaught of precipitation. The city contacted their emergency services contractor, Nelson Paving and Grading, based in Perris, Calif., to address the problem of the unsafe roadways. This included clearing mud and rock on numerous streets and neighborhoods, as well as repairing the potholes throughout the city.

One of the challenges Nelson Paving and Grading faced with the potholes was that they needing to be filled while the storm was still raging on. Based on its experience with Crafco HP Asphalt Cold Patch, they decided that this was the best product for the job because of how successfully it works in wet weather. Nelson Paving and Grading ordered over 200 tons of cold-patching material and immediately sent out three pothole-patching crews that worked around the clock to repair approximately 700 potholes in a 5-day period.

After clearing the area of loose debris and as much water as possible, the cold patch was placed in the pothole and tamped or compacted into place.