City workers are now armed with a new weapon in their ongoing battle with potholes.
The Bagela BA 10000 can produce up to 10 tonnes of "hot mix" recycled asphalt in an hour, eliminating the city's reliance on less preferable "cold mix" during the shoulder season when the asphalt plants are not yet open.
Results may vary depending on the circumstances - potholes full of water or in wheel paths will be tougher to deal with for example - but generally those repaired with hot mix will last longer, according to city supervisor of streets operations Mick Jones.
"If they can get a good patch, hopefully we're not going back at all," Jones said Thursday during a media event at the city works yard to showcase the new machine. "With a cold mix, you might go back a few times a winter, depending on where it is, and then you do it properly in the summer and hopefully get a few years out of that."
Previously, the city would load material purchased in the fall into hot boxes - basically units to transport the asphalt - and it would take anywhere from six to 10 hours to heat it up to a stage where it can be deployed.
"And depending on the size of the potholes, they would go through that mix fairly quickly and then we would have to reload it and let it heat for that period of time again," Jones said. "We weren't getting out as frequently just because it took too long to heat it."
To deal with the backlog, cold mix would be used as a temporary measure. Because it stays pliable, vehicles could push it out of the hole.
When using the new machine, old asphalt is loaded into the unit's hopper and fed into a drum where it's heated and mixed. Within eight to 10 minutes, one tonne of recycled asphalt can be produced for immediate use.
It's been in service since late last year, but Jones said the department is still in the "feeling-out stage" in terms of how it will be utilized. However, it was used over the weekend to produce 18-tonnes for resurfacing at the city hall parking lot.
The machine cost the city $225,000, setup included.
So far this year, there have been few potholes to contend with. As of March 21, crews have filled 1,530 potholes since the start of 2017, compared to 4,981 over the same period last year and 7,133 the year before that.
"I think the weather has been seasonally better than it has - less freeze-thaw cycles, less rain," Jones said in answer to why there are fewer out there but added there are still potholes to be patched.
Potholes can be reported online by going to princegeorge.ca. Click on "report a pothole" under "frequently visited pages" on the left side of the home page.
