Sunday, May 19, 2013

Latest local news, weather and high school sports for Tri-State area

Road project in Clark County damaging to cars
Posted: 09.03.2010 at 7:43 AM
0
Slideshow
Photo:

Loose gravel from chip-sealing has cracked quite a few windshields

CLARK COUNTY, MO. -- Driving along U-S Highway one-36 in Clark County, Missouri over the past few weeks has turned aggravating and expensive for some drivers.

MoDOT has been chip-sealing 55 miles of  US 136 between Alexandria and Schuyler County MO.

Chip-sealing helps maintain highways by putting oil on the road, spreading rock over it, then rolling gravel into the oil.

Some loose gravel from that process has kicked up and damaged the windshields of more than a hundred vehicles.

KHQA's Jarod Wells caught up with one of the victims as she was getting her windshield replaced.

Quinn Sammons said, "The rock chips hit my windshield kind of like a buck shot."

Sammons says she was driving west at about 50 miles an hour on Highway 136 between Kahoka and Luray last week, when a semi traveling in the other lane kicked up loose gravel.

Sammons said, "There was about 6 or 7 chips on my windshield."

Quinn Sammons already had fixed some chips in her windshield before this happened. This time, the entire windshield had to be replaced.

All along Highway 136 in Clark County, the majority of the loose gravel from MoDOT's chip seal program has been pressed in, but the stretch between Kahoka and Luray is where quite a bit of damage happened.

The daughter of one of Sammon's co-workers also had some damage. Owner of Kahoka Glass Tenny Sammons says he's been getting plenty of calls for rock chips and replacements.

Tenny Sammons said, "After they got it all dropped we've been pretty busy. Been working from about 6AM until about dark"

Here's Tenny Sammons' advice, if you get a chip, fix it immediately so it doesn't crack like this one did.

Tenny Sammons said, "As soon as you get it you need to get it fixed because contaminants can get into the chips and it's harder to fix. So the sooner you get it done, the cleaner it is, the better it looks."

Tenny Sammons actually got a chip on his own windshield while on the job. He says oncoming traffic kicks up the loose gravel. The only possibility of avoiding it is to slow down and be considerate to other drivers when you see, hear or feel loose gravel under your tires.

We spoke to MoDOT about this problem.

We were told the number of calls it received from Clark County is significantly higher than from other parts of the state where the same chip-seal process was done and MoDOT is not sure why.

Signs were posted warning of loose gravel and fresh oil.

And MoDOT believes it gave plenty of advance notice that the project would be happening.

Popular Stories
Thumbnail
Body of missing Rushville man found
Jeff Mondlock  |  Saturday, May 18, 2013  |  2 comments
Thumbnail
Three Quincy residents arrested after Thursday night drug raid
KHQA Newsdesk  |  Saturday, May 18, 2013  |  2 comments
Thumbnail
Terrorism conspiracy charge for Fort Madison man
KHQA Newsdesk  |  Friday, May 17, 2013  |  11 comments
Follow Connect Tri-States
Get news and weather notifications on your phone by downloading the iPhone or Android app below
Sign up to get alerts and updates for breaking news, severe weather, and deals:
submit
ADVERTISEMENT
Special Features
Expert Connect Legal
Legal info from our experts
Senior Living
Info on senior living from our experts
Beauty & Wellness
Beauty and wellness info from our experts
Expert Connect Auto
Automotive info from our experts
ADVERTISEMENT