(Spirit Lake)– What’s known as “frost heaves” are turning many area roads into roller coaster rides.
Dickinson County Engineer Dan Eckert says the problem is another product of the winter we’re having.
Eckert says the heaving is caused by the extremely cold weather and moisture in the roadbed that’s expanding and contracting, depending on frost action. He says the problem is most noticeable where there are culverts under the roadway.
Eckert says the problem is equally as bad on hard-surface roads as it is on gravel roads.
Eckert says road crews are doing what they can to mark the problem areas to warn motorists, but he says ongoing snow removal operations make it difficult to mark them.
