最新杏吧原创

ST. LOUIS 鈥� Temperatures over the past week have gotten so hot even the streets are buckling from the heat.

As a heat wave gripped the region, at least four streets across 最新杏吧原创, St. Charles and 最新杏吧原创 counties curled, arched or cracked and created spots where roads jutted up into the air like ramps.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very normal for this time of year, especially with the heat,鈥� Kent Flake, the city鈥檚 commissioner of streets, said Wednesday. Behind him, Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard, right in front of the Gateway Arch, was pushed upward.

鈥淭hey kind of look like a speed hump that was installed overnight,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut nobody ever put a speed hump there.鈥�

The same happened on the eastbound lanes of Interstate 44 near the Jamieson Avenue exit, on Ashby Road in Overland and West Sunny Hill Boulevard in St. Peters, according to news reports.

And the phenomenon has even spread beyond 最新杏吧原创 鈥� since Monday shows a sudden road break in Cape Girardeau sending a car airborne.

Street buckles occur when intense heat causes the lower concrete or asphalt layer of a street to rapidly expand, Flake said. That growth then pushes up through the street鈥檚 top layer, breaking it in half and forming a bump.

Repairs for the already damaged streets can be anywhere from easy to complex, depending on the damage, Flake said. Large humps like near the Arch may require cutting and digging, while smaller ones can usually just be ground down.

And sometimes, the solution is even simpler.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had them where we just a bring heavy truck down, we drive over the top of it and it pushes back down into place,鈥� he said. He pointed to a large orange truck sitting idle on the side of the road. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we have a big old truck there.鈥�

In high-temperature weeks 最新杏吧原创 typically sees a half-dozen street buckles, Flake said.

Temperatures next week should dip as the heat wave ends, according to the 鈥� and with it, the end of newly cracking roads.

Meteorologists predict that next week鈥檚 temperatures will be more tolerable, dipping to the high 80s or low 90s.

鈥淭he big change will come Monday when we have a cold front move through the region,鈥� said Matt Beitscher, an NWS forecaster. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 call it refreshing, but it鈥檒l be a much needed break.鈥�

He said he can鈥檛 yet predict how long the cooler temperatures will stick around.