Concrete Driveway Repair by City Public Works

[MiamiCuse]

Recently I have identified a water main line leak near my property. Specifically just outside my property line but under my concrete driveway. I reported to the city public works and utilities and they came and cut open my driveway to access the pipe for repair.

However, when they were done, they decided to patch the opening not with concrete but with black asphalt. Now my driveway looks like this:

So my question is, is this typical? I don't like this big black patch on my driveway, although technically it is outside of my property line. I did not call the city to see if this can be remedied, and if not, is there something I can do myself, by pouring a thin coat of hydraulic cement over the entire black area will it look better or will it crack under the weight of a car?

Thanks in advance,

MC

[hrhofmann]

Take the photo to the head of the municipal water department and ask him/her when it will be permanently fixed. If no satisfaction, take it to your next city council meeting and show it and give copies to all the city council people. If there is a part of the session called "items from the public" or something like that, use that time to bring it to their attention. I got wonderful results doing something similar to this, they actually had a projection system and I put up a similar picture showing a sloppy job for everyone at the council meeting to see and got things fixed in a matter of days.

[Tegger]

"MiamiCuse" wrote in news:M7OdnZYMyLCPRz7RnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

Boy, is that ever cheap-ass. No, it's NOT typical. In my area, that part of a driveway is called the "apron", and it's the town's responsibility, since it's part of the road allowance. Municipalities generally take pretty good care of such things.

First thing I'd do is to call your town's road works department. Chances are very good that a contractor did a quick fudge-fix, betting that nobody would gripe. If that's the case, it'll get fixed right-quick once you file an official complaint.

[Steve B]

YOU could have done as good or better! As suggested by another poster, take it to the department first, and see if they will just restore it to what it was previously. That's the quickest undramatic way. If they won't or don't do it, tell them that you intend to take it to the council meeting. If they STILL fail to fix it, then take the pictures, and your protest to the council meeting, and embarrass the council.

They hate stuff like this when the citizen is right, and usually, there will be a quick silent fix with a thank you card.

Steve

[jw]

That could be temporary. The soil needs to settle for awhile. You need to ask at the town hall.

[Ed Pawlowski]

"Steve B" wrote

And then to the newspaper.

I was in a situation where a school had a deplorable condition in the bathrooms. My letter to the editor appeared in the morning news, the crews were in repairing the bathrooms by noon.

[I AM PROTEUS]

TRAGIC THE TARRED AREA WILL SINK OR BULGE NEVER LEVELING OUT THOUGH A FULL BLACKTOP DRIVEWAY IS MUCH BETTER THAN A POURED CONCRTE ONE THE ENTIRE SLAB WILL NEED TO BE CRUSHED & REPOURED AGAIN OH YOU CAN CUT A FULL SQUARE AROUND THE TAR PATCH REMOVE THE TAR AND BALANCE THE DRIVEWAY WITH A FULL REPAIRED CONCRETE SLAB CUT ACROSS IT INSTEAD

I'D ASK THE CITY TO CORRECT THE PRESENT TRIP HAZARD LEFT BEHIND AND PUT THERE MINDS TO FASHION AND APPLY A REMEDY ASAP

I AM PROTEUS ;/

[George]

What did the city tell you when you asked them about the final result? You may have forgotten they are your employees and you get to share in the tab for running the city?

In my area they would do it exactly like like your photo and wait till there were a number to do and then a concrete contractor would be hired to do them en masse. They do the same when they cut the an asphalt road to do a repair.

[EXT]

Yeah, the patch looks like cold mix asphalt patching material used for temporary patches. It doesn't look like compacted hot mix, just shoveled in and raked out, traffic will compact it a little. Your town should tell you how they will resolve the problem and provide you with a rough timetable. They also may also forget about it altogether unless you become the "squeaking wheel" and regularly bug them.

[Larry W]

Definitely follow up with the City. But, it may not be negligence or incompetence. In my own city, when the public works crew does a repair like this, they will often put a temporary blacktop patch or fill in place after a pipe repair, then schedule a concrete repair at a later date. The crews responding to the pipe break can handle the asphalt patch themselves but are not equipped to pour and finish concrete.

[aemeijers]

Thou art a SHOUTING asshole.

[bud--]

A well known troll (asshole) that infests alt.engineering.electrical