** A note about the image above: if I ever witnessed one of my workers filling a pothole while it had stones and sand in it, I would lose my shit. That's a waste of blacktop and it's never going to adhere. That pothole is too shallow anyway. The "repair" is replacing a divot with a…continue
I've attended plenty of safety meetings over the years. I've watched countless training videos, sat through toolbox talks, and reviewed more safety policies than I can remember. Those things all have their place. Every highway department needs rules, procedures, and training. But during my y…continue
Every highway department fills potholes. It's one of those jobs that never truly ends and, put plainly, potholes are a massive pain in the ass. As soon as you think you've caught up, another freeze-thaw cycle, heavy rain, or overloaded truck creates a fresh crop of pavement failures that dem…continue
There are very few pieces of equipment that can pay for themselves as quickly as an asphalt hot box. Many small highway departments view hot boxes as equipment reserved for counties, cities, or large paving contractors. In reality, an asphalt hot box may be one of the most valuable and cost-effectiv…continue
Anyone who has worked around highway departments, contractors, or quarries quickly learns that construction aggregate terminology can be confusing. The same material may have three different names depending on the county, contractor, engineer, quarry, or generation of highway employees involved in t…continue
Most drivers have experienced it at least once. You're driving on a familiar road after dark when the rain begins to fall. At first, visibility remains acceptable, but as the pavement becomes saturated, the lane markings seem to fade away or disappear entirely. Suddenly, you're relying on th…continue
Anyone who has driven during a nighttime rainstorm has likely experienced the unsettling feeling of suddenly losing sight of the pavement markings that define the travel lane. The centerline disappears into the darkness, the edge line fades away, and drivers are left relying on muscle memory, roadsi…continue
One of the most common questions asked of highway and public works departments is, “Who is responsible for this?” In many cases, the answer seems straightforward. The municipality maintains the public road, while homeowners and property owners are responsible for their own private proper…continue
Homeowners often assume that because a driveway connects to a public road, the culvert underneath it must belong to the town, county, or state. In most cases, however, that assumption is incorrect. Typically, the property owner owns the driveway culvert and is responsible for its maintenance, repair…continue
Ask ten residents who is responsible for maintaining sidewalks in their town and you may receive ten different answers. Some assume the municipality handles everything. Others believe the adjacent property owner is fully responsible. In reality, sidewalk responsibility is often far more complicated …continue
Few things create complaints during winter faster than damaged mailboxes. Every snow season, highway and public works departments receive calls from angry residents claiming that snowplows destroyed their mailbox. Some complaints involve mailboxes physically struck by plow equipment, while others in…continue
If you’ve spent any time trying to assign a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) score, you’ve probably run into the same problem: the road isn’t uniform. Most of it looks good, but a short section might be failing badly. Suddenly, assigning a single number feels subjective and uncomfort…continue
Road rutting is one of the most visible signs that a pavement surface is under stress. These long, narrow depressions that form in the wheel paths of a roadway are more than just a nuisance for drivers. They are important indicators of how well a road was designed, constructed, and maintained. For p…continue
The story of the American roadway is closely tied to settlement, commerce, and national growth. Long before asphalt and concrete shaped the landscape, early paths followed the natural contours of the land. Over centuries, these informal routes evolved into engineered transportation corridors designe…continue
Daily activity tracking is one of the most fundamental parts of running a road or public works department, yet it’s also one of the hardest to keep organized. Paper sheets get lost. Notes get rushed. Details get forgotten. When you look back six months later, it can be difficult to reconstruct…continue
Because "I just know" isn’t a budget strategy. Every highway superintendent or public works director has faced that awkward moment in a budget meeting, sitting across from the board, being told to “justify” why you need another $100,000 for paving, or a new truck, or an e…continue
Public works and highway departments across the United States are legally required to maintain traffic control devices that meet minimum standards for visibility, condition, and retroreflectivity. According to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), every public agency must have a pro…continue
How Municipal Road Maintenance Departments Differ Across the United States When you work in a town highway department in New York State, it’s easy to assume that the rest of the country operates the same way. After all, here the position of town highway superintendent is one of the most visibl…continue
Across the country, many public works superintendents still choose their annual paving lists using a method that’s as informal as it is risky: they simply “know” which roads look bad and need work. While decades of experience have value, this approach, often referred to as paving b…continue
Losing a public works department’s front-line fleet is a gut punch on every level: the price tag alone is staggering, with each modern plow truck now ringing in at $250,000 - $300,000, and lead-time bottlenecks mean replacements ordered today may not roll onto the lot for 12 to 18 months. Whil…continue
How highway departments objectively measure roadway health, and turn numbers into smarter maintenance decisions What the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) actually is The Pavement Condition Index is a numerical score (0–100) that expresses the structural and functional health of an asphalt or con…continue
Stormwater systems work quietly in the background, protecting roads, properties, and waterways from flooding and contamination. But keeping tabs on their condition can be a challenge, especially when assets are spread throughout your community and each one has its own unique maintenance needs. Roadw…continue
Proper stormwater management is critical for every community, yet keeping track of scattered drains, culverts, dry wells, and other installations can be a constant challenge. Roadwurx simplifies the entire process with a purpose-built Stormwater Drainage module designed to help your department captu…continue
Not every road sees rush hour traffic or endless lines of commuters. Some roads quietly wind through the countryside, connecting farms, homes, and small towns. These low-traffic rural roads might not grab headlines, but they play a vital role in the daily lives of the people who depend on them. Main…continue
As a highway superintendent, one of your most important responsibilities is maintaining the quality and safety of your community’s road network. But how do you objectively measure the condition of your roads, prioritize repairs, and defend your budget requests with solid data? That’s whe…continue