Recent streetflooding in the CBD could lead to appearance of potholes popping up on downtown streets.
"The old storm drain system or leaky water pipes, that's going to cause issues in the surrounding soil. And ultimately a void underneath the street and that's going to impact the health of the street," UNO Civil Engineering Professor Norma Jean Mattei says.
Mattei, formerly with Fix My Street, the citizen task force that once worked closely with city official on the issue of potholes says: "Unmaintained or deferred maintenance will ultimately cause you to have a shorter life in asphalt or concrete streets."
She points to decades of deferred maintenance as the city public works and street maintenance departments held down spending by holding off maintenance as the price we're paying now. She says asphalt streets are built up in layers, but as time unfolds the asphalt delaminates and water... "seeps into that small delamination causing it to become a bigger delamination and ultimately having pieces just break or fall off."
Streets comprise layers foundation, stone work for water drainage, then gutters, then the roadway. Mattei says "The street's not meant to be a bridge, it's meant to be supported by a good foundation of soil and other materials."