South Jersey Company Says It Has a Better Way To Do Pothole Repairs
By Ian Bush
PT. PLEASANT BEACH, N.J. (CBS) -- The pothole patches put down by many road crews (see related story) will have to be replaced when the weather warms up. That is, if they don't fail earlier during another winter storm.
But an Ocean County, NJ company says its method -- while pricier -- is a permanent fix.
Where traditional repairs are like a band-aid, affected by water and temperature changes, Marilyn Grabowski says, infrared restoration is a surefire seal.
"It's like a skin graft: it becomes an integral part of the road," she tells KYW Newsradio.
Grabowski is the president of Atlantic Infrared Inc., in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ, which she says is the largest such contractor in the country.
"We use the infrared heat from a big chamber on the back of our equipment to actually heat up the area that the pothole has taken up," she explains, saying that hot asphalt from a hotbox on the truck gets poured in that dry space.
"So it's seamless and it's permanent. I have potholes that I've fixed 12-13 years ago that are still holding beautifully."
It's more expensive, she admits, but saves another call to crews and another lane closure come spring. She has already heard from one township on the Main Line interested in the infrared repair technology.