Extreme heat causes another road in Houston to buckle, TxDOT says
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The extreme heat is causing problems for drivers on Houston's northeast side.
Repairs are underway on the I-10 East Freeway entrance ramp Wayside Drive and eastbound feeder road.
TxDOT said the heat caused part of the road to buckle on Monday and that they hope to complete repairs by Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.
SkyEye flew over the scene on Tuesday morning. Video shows the road completely torn up as crews work to repair the damage.
As of Tuesday afternoon, crews appeared to have already laid down new concrete where the buckle occurred but are still working at the site.
Last week, TxDOT said it saw up to 10 different spots on roadways in six counties experiencing buckling or damaged pavement, including in the same area on I-10.
A TxDOT spokesperson, Danny Perez, said most of those were damaged pavement and that this recent example in northeast Houston, and another major buckle on Highway 6 near Alvin last week, are the only instances of the road actually buckling this summer.
Meanwhile, in Brazoria County, emergency repairs caused two right lanes going eastbound on Highway 6 at Country Road 146 to be closed while crews work to fix yet another damaged road. TxDOT told Eyewitness News that the damage is also "likely heat-related."
So if you're driving in between Alvin and Manvel, you might want to double-check your route as crews estimate closures to last about two hours.
Perez said crews are trying to identify spots along their roads where there is a large potential for concrete damage, such as high-traffic areas and places where repairs have already been made, and are proactively repairing them before significant damage occurs.
"We're looking at issues we can address so we don't have problems later," Perez said.
So what about the City of Houston? Eyewitness News asked their public works department Tuesday, and they said they'd had no issues with their roads as a result of the temperatures.
They said they have, however, had issues with heat and repairing water leaks.
You might remember the city averaged about 1,000 active leaks a day around the beginning of the year due to the combination of last summer's drought and last winter's freeze around Christmas time.
On June 2, the city of Houston said they had fewer than 100 leaks.
When we checked Tuesday, the numbers had crept back up to 183. The city said that number is higher because they are trying to keep their crews safe amid the heat.
Tuesday was the 15th day in a row with some kind of heat-related weather alert for southeast Texas.
Remember, if you see a road break or water leak in the city, you can call 311 to report it.
READ MORE: Triple-digit heat prompts concerns about state's power grid and possible roadway damage
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