Theology 2320

Introduction to Christian Social Teaching

Part I: “See”

Topic: Potholes

Group #2

Annamaria Bongiorno, Jia Xin Feng, Sabrina Marasia, Chris Onyekaba,

Meron Tekle, Shakira Smalls, Susan Stephen

Due: Tuesday, February 08, 2005

The first time our group met, we were given the task of thinking of some of the more pressing issues throughout New York City. Of course, many concerns were suggested, but we had some difficulty trying to agree on one topic that we all found was rather bothersome and disturbing to both ourselves and New Yorkers in general. Finally, it became apparent and we agreed that potholes are a huge menace within our area. As you travel down the busy streets of New York –important to define what you mean by “New York”, your car is bound to go over them.They seem to be everywhere, especially in downtown Manhattan.How many potholes have you either dodged or hit throughout your life in the city? Each member within the group either had their own unfortunate encounter with a pothole, or knows someone who has. We decided to take a deeper look into the issue of potholes and see just how bad the problem really is. Very good.

After taking a week to examine and pay extra attention to any potholes, we agreed that the situation is really out of control and much worse than we thought What pushed you “over the edge” with this issue?. Besides traffic, New Yorkers have to deal with the unevenness of city streets –what do you mean by “unevenness?”. Potholes have become a major problem in the city. In addition to the aggravation that New Yorkers get from these potholes they can also damage vehicles by driving on these streets- is aggravation the main concern?.It is very common to find many potholes along highly populated traffic areas. Many bridges and ramps have a higher number of potholes due to the high uses of snow removal chemicals and traffic. The snow storms a couple of weeks ago couldn’t have had better timing for our purpose. Now, potholes seem to be everywhere! What is the relationship between the two – the weather and the appearance of potholes? Most of us are from Queens and know several spots that are considered “danger zones,” or areas that we all avoid while driving to school, to a friends house, to the mall, or home. Some of us went into Manhattan and realized that some potholes have grown to reach unimaginable sizes. What is “unimaginable?” We began to do some research to assess the pothole problem and stumbled upon this quotation made by a fellow New Yorker in regards to potholes: “I fell off a shelf into an abyss. I felt it in my throat. I was in flight. [He pulled to the side of the road to investigate.] The tire was flattened. Pieces blown. I had a spare. I had a jack. I had my girlfriend to watch for my life” (Gotham Gazette, May 2003). The gentleman speaking here explains his run-in with an 18 inch pothole on the Van Wyck Expressway in Queens.

Since the beginning of this project, the group has noticed more potholes, especially now since we are making a conscious effort to “see” them. This led us to ask the question, “How do potholes form?” goodPotholes are created when moisture gets into the cracks or pavements of the road. As water goes in, the pavement softens. During the winter season, the water within the pavement refreezes and expands. During the spring, the warm weather melts the pavement and the water within the pavement evaporates. Due to the evaporation, air pockets are formed. Along with the vibration of the tires over the cracks, the asphalt breaks, creating a hole within the road. Potholes become more apparent after rain or snow, due to the heavy moisture.

Since we have established a problem, we are trying to figure out why New York City seems to be plagued with potholes. We are aware from personal experiences that some potholes do get fixed. However, we also agree that many of us have seen a pothole, witnessed it get patched up or filled in, only to find it caved in a couple weeks later. This goes to show thatsome methods which are currently being used are not the best solutions. Or, perhaps the pothole situation has never really been taken as seriously as it should. We have plenty of research to do, but we did find that the Department of Transportation and the Department of Environmental Protection both share the responsibility of responding to potholes and cave-ins, a cave-in being a hole that is greater than one foot.

We know that there have been proposed solutions and attempted methods to getting the pothole situation in NYC under control. However, we have yet to determine why these solutions are not very effective. It could be the cost of fixing the potholes, or the fact that many potholes seem to just cave back in and reform with the first hint of a rain or snow storm, or maybe we are just using the wrong materials. We hope to discover a better and more effective way to get rid of potholes to make the streets of New York City a safer and more pleasant place to drive.

This is EXCELLENT. Very fine observations and incredible first steps.

Potholes are characterized by a definable bottom surface such as dirt or gravel.

Cave-ins generally look like depressions, with a jagged hole and a deep void beneath it.