Wisconsin pavement buckles more than in nearby states

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) – The high heat has affected many of our commutes to start the week. Traffic on I-41 snarled significantly Monday night and Tuesday morning due to heat-related problems.

There were several spots where the pavement buckled and caused a joint to nearly fail on the Lake Butte Des Morts Bridge. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation says they have crews at the ready to respond to pavement buckling incidents this time of the year.

Drivers are encouraged to call a non-emergency line if they notice buckled pavement out on the road.

Research conducted by the DOT in 2022 indicated the state has had more than 100 pavement buckling incidents every year since 2019, and the rate of buckling is generally increasing over the past decade.

Buckling happens in Wisconsin more often than in other Midwestern states, or across the country, due to a number of reasons.

Researchers point to our hot, humid and rainy summers and the fact that paving operations are sometimes performed in the winter when the joints can’t be sealed, which allows more debris to get in the gaps.

“The heat, the humidity, the water, rain, all those things react. We can’t predict necessarily where they’re going to happen. Sometimes on days like today we could end with zero we could end up with,” said Randy Asman, the Northeast Region Traffic Supervisor.

The research team made multiple suggestions to cut down on buckling problems, including using stretchable sealant on some joints and updating best practices when laying concrete in cold weather.

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