High heat buckled part of Oklahoma highway

By Brett Rains

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    VIAN, Oklahoma (KHBS) — ODOT crews worked to fix a portion of U.S. Hwy. 64, near Vian, in Sequoyah County after the heat caused it to buckle.

“During these heat waves that we get pretty much every summer, it can cause some wear and tear on our roadways,” ODOT spokesperson, T.J. Gerlach, said. “Especially at the joints on these highways or if there’s a crack, the expanding concrete will rub against the other panel or the other surface and that expansion, the heat, just causes the roadway to pop up or blow out as we call it.”

Older roads are more susceptible to being damaged from high heat, according to Gerlach.

“We get roughly 10 to 20 across the state every year. I’ve seen instances in Minnesota this year since they have a pretty bad heat wave this year. The city of Tulsa, actually yesterday, had some road buckling issues as well,” he said.

The damage was first reported Sunday evening. ODOT crews finished repairing and repaving the section of highway Tuesday morning.

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