To report a pothole within the Village, you can:
· Submit the location through the online
Pothole Report Form
· Call the Village's Pothole Hotline at
(708) 403-5010
The Public Works Department will respond within one (1) business day.
Before you call or submit your report online, please determine the street address and the nearest cross-street where the pothole is located. You can check to determine if the street is a Village of Orland Park street by checking the Street Maintenance Jurisdiction Guide. Please report only potholes observed on Village streets and not the State, County, or Township roads.
Where do potholes come from?
Potholes occur when moisture penetrates cracks in the asphalt surface of a road. Cold weather freezes the water and causes it to expand. A pothole forms when dirt and gravel is forced out leaving a hole. The ice eventually melts and the stressed asphalt becomes a pothole. The pothole expands as traffic hits the hole.
Snow and rain percolates through
fissures in pavement and collects
in the stone subbase.
In frigid weather, collected water
freezes and expands, pushing pavement upward while traffic
stresses the pavement.
When the pavement thaws, it collapses
into the void created by expanding ice.
Continuing traffic breaks the pothole
edges and makes it larger.
Low-severity potholes are a minimum of 6” wide and less than 2-inches deep, moderate from 2 to 3-inches deep, and high severity greater than 3-inches deep.
Often the surface course of asphalt (top layer) will pop out and leave a depression which can feel like a pothole. These are not potholes and can not be repaired the same way as a pothole. These type of areas must be cut out and a new layer of hot asphalt placed in the depression (permanent asphalt patch - see below).
What we do to fix them potholes…
Pothole repair is an ongoing operation of the Street Division of the Public Works Department. Repairs include the patching of potholes and other defects on Village streets.
When a pothole is reported, the Public Works Department creates a work order to repair the pothole. The Street Division dispatches a crew to repair the hole. Temporary asphalt (cold) patch is placed in the hole. A better solution is a permanent asphalt patch.
A permanent asphalt patch requires more time and material. A full-depth patch requires the crew to remove the pavement down to the sub-grade (stone) or intermediate asphalt sub-base layer. The hole needs to be opened and the sides squared off. Moisture or water cannot be in the hole for the patch to be effective. Once the hole is prepared, the crew will bring in hot-mix asphalt (HMA) to permanently repair the pothole. The crew places the hot-mix into the hole and then rolls the mixture to assure adherence and compaction to the existing pavement. The perimeter of the squared off, repaired pothole is then sealed with a material used for crack sealing.
