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Martin has declared this week to be "Pothole Week," and the city wants residents to call in to report potholes. Stamford has invested nearly $100,000 in a pair of "hot boxes" that are attached to the back of city trucks and are loaded with the hot asphalt that immediately fix the holes.
"The real objective is for everybody to report those potholes," Martin said.
Potholes typically are repaired with temporary cold patch until local asphalt plants begin production in April, Martin said. The success of temporary cold patch repairs depends on weather conditions, size and depth of the pothole, traffic and other factors. They cannot be permanently repaired while the ground is frozen or during inclement weather, Martin said.
"Some of the potholes may have been reported before but when we fill them in the middle of the cold winter sometimes the cold patch comes out again; it doesn't stick," he said.
The city's first hot box was put to use at the press conference announcing "Pothole Week" as it rolled up with a load of hot asphalt direct from a plant in Westchester County, N.Y., to fill a pothole in front of 145 Westwood Road. It's located off Stillwater Avenue in the Westover section.
The hot box can use up to 5 tons of hot asphalt, twice as much than the city's trucks currently hold, said Thomas Turk, the city's traffic and road maintenance supervisor. This saves time going back and getting more asphalt, he said. As well, all of the asphalt can be used because the hot box keeps the asphalt warm preventing any waste of asphalt that had cooled down.
"We grab it hot and we keep it hot, which means we don't waste any at the day because it gets cool," Turk said. "That's the whole point of this is that it is much more efficient."
The hot asphalt also is cheaper and lasts longer than cold patch, Turk said.
The city wants residents to report potholes so they can be quickly fixed, Martin said. Residents can report potholes by calling 203-977-4140, online or via the MyStamford App for smartphones. Requests made after business hours can be directed to the police department’s non-emergency number at 203-977-4444.
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