Courtesy: Town of High Level
Town of High Level spring maintenance
underway
With the turning of the seasons to warmer weather, the Town of High Level is running its annual
spring maintenance program.
Spring maintenance on our roads involves a number of different projects – and all of them
depend on the prevailing weather conditions. This includes road sweeping, spray patching, and
repairing potholes; as well as managing drainage as the snow melt continues.
The rapid snow melt has caused a lot of water build-up in the community, and crews have been
busy managing the runoff. Starting at the lowest points in town, they use steam and high-pressure
hoses to clear the culverts, which become blocked with mud, leaves, and ice over the winter.
Crews will work their way from those low points to the highest points in the community in order
to avoid flooding downstream. While the work can be slow, it can also be hampered by stretches
of cold weather that can cause more blockages.
As the weather warms, local drivers become eager to see spray patching and filling potholes.
Unfortunately, permanent repairs cannot be started until the cracks and holes stop “weeping” –
that is, the ground beneath them pushes all the frost and moisture to the surface and dries up.
Doing this work before then will only trap water under the repairs and cause more damage to the
roads, while also undoing the repair work in the process.
As for sweeping, that too is weather dependent. With the freeze-thaw happening in early spring,
there are times when the roads might be dry in some places and coated in ice in others. In those
times, it is beneficial to have some of the sand from winter maintenance on the road for traction.
Once the nights warm up enough that the ice patches are no longer an issue, those roads can be
swept and prepared for spring and summer driving.
The Town of High Level has a small but mighty Operations crew that handles road and drainage
maintenance as well as ensuring our utilities infrastructure remains in good working condition.
We want to thank the community for their patience as the spring maintenance season gets
underway, and we ask all drivers to slow down when they see our crews on the road or in the
ditches – safety is everyone’s business!
