(The Center Square) – After extreme heat buckled a section of Interstate 49 in Shreveport on Tuesday, Louisiana transportation officials are warning drivers to watch for sudden pavement failures as high temperatures continue through next week.
Roadway buckling typically appears as sudden pavement heaves, major cracks and lifted concrete slabs.
Extreme heat buckled a section of Interstate 49 for part of Tuesday, closing the major roadway, which connects Louisiana to Arkansas.
Standby crews were able to make repairs and get it reopened the same day, said Erin Buchanan, a public information officer for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.
“Periods of extreme heat can cause concrete pavement to expand, resulting in buckling at the roadway joints that can occur quickly and without warning,” according to a DOTD statement.
All southbound lanes of I-49 just north of the Martin Luther King Drive interchange in Shreveport were affected by the closure. Traffic was detoured off the interstate at North Market Street.
“We mobilized immediately, because these are not the types of things that we can put off for the next day,” Buchanan said. “We ask that people report it to us and don’t assume some else has.”
A westbound I-20 on-ramp in West Monroe at Thomas Road will be closed Thursday while crews repair a blow-up there. The closure is expected to last approximately 4 to 6 hours and should be opened back to travel the same day, the DOTD said.
The buckling – called “blow-ups” – are usually located at the joints between the concrete slabs. High temperature causes thermal expansion in the concrete, and if not relieved, the concrete will shatter or bubble.
Partial-depth patching is used when damage is confined to the surface, while full-depth patching is used when the damage extends through the entire slab or when the underlying structure has failed, according to the DOTD
The potential to buckle is there at any time when roadways experience prolonged heat, so drivers need to be on the lookout, especially during periods of unusually high temperatures, said the DOTD.
It’s difficult to pinpoint in advance which roadways are susceptible. “You can tell if maybe there was previous patching but a lot of time it’s in an area that has never had a previous issue,” Buchanan said.
Motorists traveling in the northern portion of the state can contact the Shreveport-Bossier district headquarters at (318) 549-8300 to report an incident.
