Concrete Buckle Adjacent to 57th Street worth Watching
Summertime can do strange things to concrete. Even though it doesn’t directly affect traffic, it’s a fascinating example of what extreme temperatures can do to man’s work.
The area lies just west of 57th and Louise near the northwest entrance of the Village on Louise shopping center. Curb and gutter protruding upward during mid-morning Friday gave way to a patch by city crews in early evening.
The forces at work popped the concrete on the right in this photo a good half a foot out of the ground. It doesn't appear that the concrete broke or cracked. By design concrete is allowed to expand and contract at this joint. To level out the two pieces an asphalt patch was applied by Sioux Falls Public Works.
A little wider look shows the gutter area was also affected and needed a little smoothing and also a little different perspective on how high the curb is on the right in relation to the curb on the left.
Since the street is asphalt, the driving surface is not affected. However, the gutter was raised a bit in relation to the street and a patch was necessary to bridge the gap of about 2 to 3 inches.
Driving this stretch shouldn't be a problem for motorists during most conditions. It is at the peak of a hill so drainage problems will likely not come into play.
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