Jarring Realization in O.C.: A Record Reign of Potholes

El Nino has brought floods, killer mudslides and waves that have threatened to rip apart piers. And now there are the potholes--triple the number that usually appear.

“I’ve been here 30 years, and I’ve seen lots of potholes,” said Sam Houston, a lead maintenance worker for Caltrans, “but this is the most I’ve ever seen. We’re getting potholes next to potholes.”

A Caltrans spokeswoman said that the agency’s work crews--who maintain freeways and state highways in Orange County--usually fix about 500 potholes a month. Last month they fixed 1,500, mostly due to the El Nino-driven rains. “They’re popping up all over the place,” Houston said, “and the holes are big.”

The rains have created potholes as deep as 4 inches and as wide as 10. Most years, Houston said, the biggest potholes are only an inch deep and 2 to 4 inches wide.

In Costa Mesa, assistant city engineer Ernesto Munoz has seen so many potholes that he’s waxing philosophic. “They’re like plants,” he said. “You water them and they grow.”

The craters result when water seeps into fissures in the road. Within days the moisture weakens the asphalt. Then the tires of passing cars and trucks dig out huge chunks of material.

The result is holes in the highway that can cause accidents or badly damage vehicles.

“They are hazards, especially for motorcycles,” said Joann O’Hair, a spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol. “Someone who is not paying attention and doesn’t realize that a pothole is coming up can overreact and you never know what could happen then.”

If the driver doesn’t swerve into an adjoining lane and cause a collision, she said, the car could sustain major damage to its axles or tires. Her advice: be alert, pay attention and when you see one ahead of you, change lanes to avoid it if such a maneuver is safe. If it’s not, slow down and try to keep the pothole between your tires.

O’Hair said she was not aware of any recent accidents in Orange County caused by potholes. A Caltrans spokeswoman, however, said that the agency has received 29 claims for pothole-related damages since Jan. 1, compared to the average of two to three per month it usually receives. To win a claim, however, a driver has to prove negligence on the part of Caltrans--something of which the agency’s road workers say they are definitely not guilty.

“We feel that we’re gaining on it,” said Houston, who oversees one of the six state crews that have been fixing potholes full time since the rains began.

Among the county’s most pock-marked roads are the Costa Mesa and Santa Ana freeways, Laguna Canyon Road and portions of Pacific Coast Highway. Caltrans crews plug the most hazardous holes temporarily with an asphalt mix. After the rain stops, spokeswoman Rose Orem said, they will return to apply a more permanent asphalt top.

Orange County cities too are struggling to keep up with the rapid deterioration of their streets.

Costa Mesa officials established a pothole hotline four years ago to speed up the city’s response. Until recently, the line was averaging four to 10 calls a day, said Rick Simons, acting assistant street superintendent. Following this year’s heavy rains, he said, the number of daily calls jumped to about 25, the most since the hotline began.

City crews have fixed nearly 500 potholes since December.

“We fill them and they just keep popping up,” Simons said. “This has been one of the worst years.”

In Huntington Beach, the exceptionally wet winter has meant that the city’s main arteries are taking a beating.

Huntington Beach is in the third year of a seven-year residential street maintenance program, so streets in most neighborhoods are in decent repair, said Donald Noble, the city’s maintenance operations manager. But the city’s main arteries are not part of its maintenance program, and the combination of heavy rain and traffic means that potholes are blossoming with each new watering.

Edinger, Warner and Slater avenues, Bolsa Chica Road and Magnolia Street are among the main roads with problems, Noble said. Also, Edwards Street between Ellis and Slater avenues is particularly pockmarked.

There is no cheap way to fix the damage. Repairing a pothole costs about $1.60 per square foot. “It’s all hand labor and there’s no other way to do it,” Noble said. “You’ve got to take a truck out there, dig out the damaged area and replace it with new materials.”

Times staff writers Lisa Richardson and Roberto J. Manzano contributed to this story.

David Haldane can be reached at (714) 966-5997 or at david.haldane@latimes.com

* ROCK SOLID: Dana Point’s faux rock reinforcing an eroded bluff is standing up to El Nino. B1

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Pothole’s Progress

Rain and road surfaces don’t mix, not least because moisture helps turn small cracks into large holes. Potholes can form in just a few hours after asphalt roads have been drenched. How the problem worsens:

1. Water under the road

Rainwater sinks through cracks in old or weakened asphalt. The water is soaked up by the mixture of rock, gravel and sand that supports the road.

2. Roadbed erodes

Vehicles passing over the road force water through the soggy roadbed, eventually eroding parts of it.

3. Asphalt breaks away

Asphalt sinks into the eroded portions of the roadbed and eventually cracks under the continued impact of vehicle tires. Chunks come loose.

4. Repairs

Holes may first be patched with “cold” asphalt, which does not require special equipment. Later, a permanent repair is made with hot asphalt and a steamroller.

Damage to vehicles

Potholes can sometimes cause several hundred dollars’ worth of damage to cars.If your car’s steering seems unusual or other problems appear, have it checked.

Potholes Can:

* Flatten tires

* Bend wheels

* Ruin wheel alignment

* Damage shock absorbers or suspension struts

* Damage parts nder the car, if it “bottoms out”

Source: County and city public works departments, Auto Club of Southern California and Anaheim Hills Tire