The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is promising to fix the continued pavement buckling of Highway 3 in Essex County.
The MTO said it will repair, clean and reseal the joints as well as complete selective concrete panel repairs on Highway 3 this summer. The ministry added it will continue to monitor and complete maintenance on this section of the highway.
Liane Fisher Bloxam, the communications coordinator for the Ministry of Transportation West Region, said last year, the ministry completed field investigations on Highway 3 to better understand the potential causes for pavement buckling in extreme heat. She said the ministry found that concrete pavement joints filled with a rubberized sealant can expand too much in extreme heat.
"Occasionally, under extremely high temperatures and humidity the expansion can be greater than that provided by the joints and the resulting force may cause the concrete to buckle," said Bloxam in a statement issued on Tuesday. "Buckling may also be exacerbated by sand or debris in the joint."
Bloxam said the MTO is working with its contractors to monitor and repair the joints or the pavement as quickly as possible.
Highway 3 buckled under extreme heat at least three times last summer and continues to buckle this summer.
The MTO said the investigations included coring through the pavement joints, laboratory testing of selected soil samples, a Ground Penetrating Radar survey to assess concrete thickness and granular depth, a Falling Weight Deflectometer testing to determine how the pavement joints move under traffic loading, and visual inspections of the pavement.
