The city of Fargo is asking for your help in fixing its broken places.
Literally.
The drought this year has sucked the moisture out of the soil under the city's sidewalks and roads, causing it to contract. That contributes to slumping of the surface of the pavement, and in some cases, breaking its surfaces. That's why city leaders are asking you to call them when you noticed significant damage to roads and sidewalks, including around manhole covers. It's not only putting pedestrians and bike riders at risk of injury - it's also costing them water, as well.
The contracting soil is also shifting around the city's cast-iron water mains, contributing to shifting and in some cases, shearing the mains off completely. There were 22 water main breaks in August of this year -- an unprecedented number. In contrast, there were only about forty water main breaks in all of the previous year, according to the City Public Works Director, Ben Dow.
Dow also says that some of the breaks in the pavement surfaces have been six to eight inches.
Besides the dollar damage, the breaks could also lead to falls for folks on foot or on bikes.
"These things are popping up all over town, so if you see one and don't see cones, caution signs or white lines, please call in and report it," says Dow.
He says city crews are working to get about fifty current locations patched up. In addition, city engineer April Walker estimates there may be forty-six miles of city pavement that were originally installed back in the 60s and 70s with no gravel layer between the asphalt and the clay. That was standard back then, she says, but now, those sections are at risk of collapse in the drought conditions.
And for homeowners, there's also the issue of liability.
City leaders say homeowners are liable for the sidewalk in front of their homes, "roughly the same area you shovel every winter," says Dow. If someone were to fall and get hurt, you could be held legally responsible, he says.
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