The lowly pothole:  from a distance, it might not appear too intimidating, but if it manages to snag a wheel on your car, you could be in for a bumpy ride.

For Dan Diaz, street maintenance superintendent for the City of Fullerton, potholes are his crews’ worse nightmare as they occur with greater frequency than any other street problem – and particularly in rainy weather such as we have experienced lately.

“In 2009, my crews repaired approximately 5,000 potholes,” Diaz said.  “We expect 2010’s total will be even higher as the heavy rains have increased pothole development by approximately 30 percent.”

Diaz said arterial streets are more prone to pothole problems due to heavy traffic loads and the weight of large commercial trucks that travel those streets.   He said his crews have particularly noticed an increase in pothole development on such heavily traveled streets as Berkeley and Raymond avenues and West Valencia Drive.

As demonstrated by the recent rains, “water is a street’s worst enemy,” Diaz explained.  “Water percolates under the road surface and attacks the street’s base material, causing settling which, in turn, creates a void beneath the asphalt.  Once enough base support has been washed away, the asphalt can no longer support the weight of vehicles and potholes develop.”

Diaz said his crews will respond on all reports of potholes or pavement deficiency.  All residents have to do is call the Fullerton Maintenance Services Department at (714) 738-6897. 

Requests may also be made by logging onto the city website at www.ci.fullerton.ca.us and going to the Maintenance Services Department section.  Once there, citizens will find the heading “Request a Service” and under that will be a link to an on-line form to report potholes.