What is Road Soup? Winnipeg test drives new pothole patching project
There may be hope for Winnipeggers as they try to dodge numerous potholes on their daily commute.
The city is testing out a new product known as Road Soup, which would be used to help fill the craters during the early spring.
Normally, the city uses a cold asphalt mix when the weather is still cooler, but the mix doesn't last long. Once the weather warms up, a more permanent hot mix is applied.
But with Road Soup, it can be combined with the cold recycled asphalt. The city hopes this will last longer through the typical freeze-thaw cycle so potholes don't need to be filled more than once.
"I really appreciate the Public Works Department (trying) all sorts of different products and techniques," said Coun. Janice Lukes.
As of April 7, Manitoba Public Insurance had more than 1,600 pothole claims filed by drivers this year.
Jeremie Pantel works at West End Tire and has seen his fair share of pothole damaged vehicles come in.
"About two months ago, we started seeing a lot more than normal," he said. "Usually, we see more around this time, but with the low amount of snow and (the) quick melt, everything came out quicker."
He added the main problems have been blown-out tires or cracked rims, but there have been extreme cases like issues with front-end suspensions.
While the hope is the new product will work, Lukes said the city also needs to address the actual problem – fixing Winnipeg's aging streets.
"The solution to our roads situation is we need to be working with the province, which we are doing, on a new funding model, and we need to be working with the federal government," said Lukes.
The city said representatives from Road Soup are in Winnipeg now, helping mix a stockpile product. The stockpile will be used as a supplement to hot asphalt repairs this summer, and then the effectiveness will be measured during next year's freeze-thaw cycle.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Signs of Alzheimer’s were everywhere. Then his brain improved
Blood biomarkers of telltale signs of early Alzheimer’s disease in the brain of his patient, 55-year-old entrepreneur Simon Nicholls, had all but disappeared in a mere 14 months.
Flammable kids' sleepwear, salmonella-contaminated chips: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued recalls for various items this week, including kids' bassinets, chips, and stoves. Here's what to watch out for.
Lyon-bound Air Canada Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner from Montreal turns back midflight due to pressurization alert
Passengers heading from Montreal to Lyon, France on Friday were forced to return home and depart the next day after a pressurization indication was detected in flight.
U.S. ambassador 'not aware' of any plans for Trudeau-Trump meeting
Canada's Ambassador to the United States says she's 'not aware' of any plans for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to meet with former U.S. president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump before the November American election.
Sentencing trial set to begin for Florida man who executed 5 women at a bank in 2019
Zephen Xaver walked into a central Florida bank in 2019, fatally shot five women and then called police to tell them what he did. Now 12 jurors will decide whether the 27-year-old former prison guard trainee is sentenced to death or life without parole.
'How do you get hypothermia in a prison?' Records show hospitalizations among Virginia inmates
The Virginia State Police investigator seemed puzzled about what the inmate was describing: "unbearable" conditions at a prison so cold that toilet water would freeze over and inmates were repeatedly treated for hypothermia.
The secret Italian lakes that most tourists don't know about
Italy has dozens of secret smaller lakes that boast superb scenery, unknown to mass tourism, where locals get together on day trips and enjoy picnics.
Canadian immigration asks medical worker fleeing Gaza if he treated Hamas fighters
Lawyers are questioning Canada’s approach to screening visa applications for people in Gaza with extended family in Canada after one applicant, a medical worker, was asked whether he had treated members of Hamas.
Walmart, Costco refusing to sign grocery code of conduct 'untenable': industry minister
Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says it's 'untenable' for 'smaller players' like Walmart and Costco to delay signing on to the government- and industry-led grocery code of conduct, now that industry giant Loblaw has agreed to do so.