Nevada roads, highways can withstand extreme heat due to NDOT planning

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – In other parts of the country, the heat’s impact on the roads is drastic.

In Seattle, roads buckled as the city experienced temperatures near 100 degrees. There is a similar issue in other states. Places like Utah are hit with snow and rain and they typically see those roads impacted.

Here in southern Nevada, that isn’t the case. Mostly due to our dryer winters and a lot of prep work from the Nevada Department of Transportation, southern Nevada’s roads are designed to withstand the excessive heat.

“We are very accustomed to the extreme summertime heat and we don’t have the other direction of extreme winter or cold,” said Justin Hopkins with NDOT. “A lot of the places, you see damage in the summertime, or in the wintertime the potholing or buckling, they get a lot of moisture in the winter,”

NDOT says they prevent roads from buckling or suffering any damage here in their design before building roads or highways, using high-heat materials.

“We plan our construction materials to meet the high summertime heat, using materials specifically to withstand high temps. Sometimes they have heat resistant properties, which helps prevent damage to the roadways,” said Hopkins.

He added that if you do happen to see any issues on the roadways, you should let them know.

“We would love to hear about it,” said Hopkins. “Often times, drivers spot those before our maintenance crews do.”

If you need help out on the roads or if your car breaks down during this heat, visit: Need Assistance (nv.gov). For more information about how NDOT plans and preps visit Design | Nevada Department of Transportation (nv.gov).

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