The high temperatures of July and August in central Iowa can wreak havoc on roads, and one problem that frequently arises is road buckling.

Dallas County Engineer Al Miller explains, extreme heat causes concrete to expand, and that stress tends to find the weakest point of the road causing it to fracture. Miller says it’s a common occurrence and something his department is adept at correcting, but difficulties arise because incidents can happen anywhere with little notice. As such, he encourages the public to reach out to the Secondary Roads Department whenever they come across an instance of road buckling. “It is an issue that we seem to deal with every year. We know certain areas that are prone to it in the County, (but) we do rely on the travelling public and County Deputies and that kind of thing to call in to let us know when they’ve happened. And we try to temporarily repair those so they’re safe as can be for the travelling public until we have time to do a permanent patch on those areas.”

Miller adds, the good thing about road buckling in the summer is that they’re fixed when the roads have expanded to their biggest size. Then in the winter when the roads contract, he says there’s a built-in relief joint created by the patching. To hear more from Miller, listen to today’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program on air and at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.