Pittsburgh crews preparing for Pothole Blitz

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh city workers are preparing for this year's first Pothole Blitz.

Crews will be out during the next three days from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m.

We're live with workers as they patch potholes throughout the city, on Channel 11 Morning News starting at 4:30 a.m.

They'll use multiple tools and multiple departments to fix the potholes.

Public Works Director Mike Gable says the city identified about 300 potholes through 311 reports and they'll try to tackle them in the upcoming Pothole Blitz.

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"We've got daylight and night-turn crews that are going to be working on it, weather permitting," Gable said.

Gable says they'll use 30 trucks and 102 people for the first 12-hour shift, starting at 6 a.m. Thursday, and that more crews are being assembled.

"This isn't just a Street Division task, this is going to be on the Parks and the specialty divisions to throw everything we can to get these potholes fixed," Gable said. Crews will use a cold patch, a temporary measure for filling potholes, but they also have another tool.

"We have material that you can pour right into a hole that's filled with water and the water actually activates the material," Gable said.

Potholes that were patched with that material are holding up, according to Gable.

He also pointed out that recent paving efforts have helped decrease the number of road complaints.

"I also think it would be much worse if we had not had paved the number of streets we paved over the last three to four years," Gable said.

City officials are encouraging people to report potholes by either calling or tweeting at the city's 311 service.

Cox Media Group