public works

Municipalities have authority under RSA 231:191 to set maximum weight limits upon the Class IV, V or VI highways under their regulatory control, and often use that authority in the months of April and May. The winter is coming to an end, and the soils and pavements of highways freeze during the cooler overnight hours and then thaw during the relatively warm daylight hours. This “freeze-thaw cycle" can cause pavement to crack or break, and potholes to open.

Steven F. Parkinson has led the City of Portsmouth’s Public Works Department for nearly two decades, through a multitude of construction projects and countless New England snowstorms. This past May, the American Public Works Association (APWA) honored Steve for his distinguished accomplishments by naming him a 2008 Top Ten Public Works Leader of the Year. The APWA’s annual program honors exemplary public works professionals from across the U.S. and Canada for their dedication, leadership and expertise.

By Ronald O’Keefe

If a little is good—is more better? Perhaps not when it comes to applying salt to our roadways and parking lots. Recent sampling of several streams in New Hampshire found chloride—a primary component of road salt—at levels above state water quality standards. Testing of streams in the southern I-93 area found that, during various times of the year, chloride levels have exceeded state water quality standards in Beaver Brook, Dinsmore Brook, Policy Brook and a tributary to Canobie Lake. The watersheds for these brooks include parts of Salem, Windham, Derry, Londonderry, Auburn and Chester.

New Hampshire Local Government Center’s (LGC) Safety Working Around Traffic or SWAT Team will soon be roaming Granite State roads on the lookout to find Member Group employees who are safely working around traffic. Our mission is to reward work zone crews for doing so.