Not
everything associated with the thaw is a welcome relief.
The
sustained warmth and sun on our roads has caused frost heaves to occur. These
are curious things to me, as we didn’t have frost heaves where I was raised in
the Midwest.
As I
understand it, the warming temperatures during the day melts some of the frozen
ground, including any within and beneath the road bed. Then, when the
temperature drops below freezing at night, the water re-freezes, and as ice
expands, the resultant pressure pushes upward and outward with such slow and
yet incredible force that even roadbeds are buckled.
It is a
commonality of New England, the frequent thawing and refreezing, especially
during late winter, a costly nuisance to road maintenance where cracks and
potholes form with time.
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