Arlington Heights streets breaking up before their time

“Pozzalonic” is a bad word when you're talking about streets in Arlington Heights and many other suburbs.

More than 70 miles of Arlington Heights streets built during a time of intense development in the 1970s and '80s still have pozzalonic bases, Jim Massarelli, director of engineering, told the village board Monday night.

Pozzolan is the word used to describe a category of materials — fly ash is one — often mixed with concrete. The mixture was used for a number of years because it saved money on concrete, but many suburbs are learning that it deteriorates much faster than commonly used Portland cement, Massarelli said.

“It turns to sand,” Massarelli said this week while going over his department's budget for the fiscal year that starts May 1. “The strength is not very good.”

A concrete base will last 50 to 60 years and then still have some strength, said the engineer. But bases with this type of pozzalonic mixture deteriorate drastically after 20 to 30 years, he said.

Scott Shirley, Arlington Heights director of public works, said other municipalities have the same problem.

Petroleum prices — which also affect the cost of asphalt — are rising and threatening to go higher because of unrest in the Middle East, and will have a big effect on how many miles of streets can be fixed this year, said Massarelli.

The $2 million Arlington Heights gets each year in motor fuel taxes is used for major street rebuilding. Last year that money enabled the village to tear up 1.32 miles of streets that had a pozzalonic base; and also do a lesser rehab on less than one-half mile of other streets.

The village will be seeking bids soon for work this summer, he said.

Most years about seven miles of streets get resurfaced, which is less expensive than tearing up a street's base.

The budget for resurfacing was $3.1 million last year and this year is $3.2 million.